Macron calls justice failures 'unacceptable' after girl, 11, found dead

French President Emmanuel Macron called failures in his country's judicial system "unacceptable" Friday, days after the body of an 11-year-old girl named Lyhanna was found in an abandoned silo in southwestern France — her suspected killer a man who had faced at least three dropped child sex abuse complaints.

The case has ignited a national reckoning over France's handling of child sexual abuse, where investigations are dropped for nearly three in four complaints and convictions in rape cases involving minors reach only 3%, according to The Korea Times.

Lyhanna disappeared May 29 near Fleurance in the Gers department of southwestern France. Her body was discovered June 4 in an abandoned silo; she was wearing the same clothes she had on when last seen, according to The Korea Times.

The detained suspect — a 41-year-old father of two — had faced accusations of sexually abusing children in at least three separate complaints stretching back to 2017. Cases from 2017 and 2022 were dropped or dismissed for lack of evidence. A third complaint filed in August 2025 had not prompted police to question the suspect in the nine months before Lyhanna vanished, the Korea Times reported.

Macron, speaking at a European summit in Montenegro, acknowledged the systemic failure. "It is clear that there has been a dysfunction. It's unacceptable," he said, according to The Korea Times. He held an emergency meeting with his justice, interior and budget ministers. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered all public prosecutors to convene for a Monday discussion, and officials were given two weeks to submit findings from an administrative probe.

Local officials voiced the community's grief and anger. "It's terrible. The community is stunned, and so am I," Louis Turchi, mayor of Puycasquier, told AFP. Gregory Bobbato, mayor of Fleurance, challenged authorities to act on a lower evidentiary threshold: "Must we always wait for fully established evidence to be produced before finally doing something to protect our children?" he said, according to The Korea Times.

Statistics cited by The Korea Times underscore the breadth of the problem: investigations are dropped for nearly three of every four complaints alleging sexual abuse of minors in France. Only 7% of sexual assault complaints and 3% of rape complaints involving minors lead to a conviction.

The case drew condemnation across France's political spectrum. Former Premier Edouard Philippe, a center-right presidential candidate, demanded to know: "Why doesn't the entire state apparatus immediately go on alert?" after a child's testimony, the Korea Times reported. Anne-Cecile Mailfert of the Women's Foundation offered a blunter verdict: "The system doesn't work," she said earlier this week.

Michele Creoff of the Union for Childhood association questioned why investigators had not checked the suspect's digital history. "Did anyone go and check this man's computer? The websites he visits?" she asked, according to The Korea Times. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and the government have pledged to confront the failures the case has laid bare.