Outrage has erupted in France after it was revealed that the main suspect in the case of an 11-year-old girl who went missing last week had been repeatedly accused of sexually abusing children—yet no action was taken.

A body was discovered on Thursday, and formal identification was underway, an informed source told AFP.

The case has dominated headlines as dozens of police officers and volunteers spent days searching the countryside in southwestern France for 11-year-old Lyhanna. She disappeared on Friday near the village of Fleurance after being last seen getting into a man’s car.

A 41-year-old father of two has been detained as the key suspect. A prosecutor confirmed that previous legal complaints had been filed against him for raping a minor, sparking national outrage over alleged judicial failings.

“What we’re discovering day after day is absolutely unbearable,” government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said. “It raises a profound question: what importance do we give to victims’ testimonies? How are investigations conducted?” she told Europe 1 and CNews.

Around 170 police officers, assisted by volunteers on horseback, searched for the child on Thursday. After being shown security camera footage, the suspect admitted giving Lyhanna a lift but claimed he dropped her off at a swimming pool.

Prosecutor Clemence Meyer revealed that the suspect had faced prior complaints:

• December 2017: A mother reported that her 17-year-old daughter was in a relationship with the man. The case was dropped in 2018 after the girl said she had consented.
• January 2022: A complaint accused him of raping a child under 15 in 2020 at his home in southwestern France. The case was dismissed in 2024 due to a lack of evidence.
• August 22, 2025: The mother of a girl born in 2014 accused him of raping her child between September 2024 and May 2025 at his home. The complaint was first examined in Toulouse before being transferred to the local prosecutor’s office, which requested a police investigation in January. However, the suspect had not been questioned by the time Lyhanna disappeared.

“The investigation was still underway when Lyhanna went missing,” Meyer said. She added that a new complaint for the alleged rape of a minor had been filed on Wednesday but provided no further details.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told parliament on Wednesday that he had demanded an inquiry by the justice ministry into the handling of the cases.

Anne-Cécile Mailfert, from the activist group Women’s Foundation, called for stronger laws to prevent sexual violence. “I am stunned and I am angry,” she wrote on Instagram after learning the suspect had been accused of rape last year. “Another 10-year-old girl found the immense courage to tell her parents. They supported her, they believed her, she went to the police, they filed a complaint, and then nothing happened.”

“We’re calling for a comprehensive law against sexual violence because the system doesn’t work,” she said.

(FRANCE24 with AFP)