Judges in France handling the case of Father Yves Grosjean, a priest jailed for sexual assault on minors, have asked Moroccan authorities to assist in their investigation, the Dijon Court of Appeal said Wednesday, the French outlet La Croix reported.
The court rejected Grosjean’s request for release on October 1. It also issued an international judicial request, known as a commission rogatoire, to Morocco, where Grosjean served as a priest for seven years in Rabat. Dominique Braul, president of the court’s Chamber of Instruction, did not specify which investigative actions France requested.
Grosjean, 68, was charged and jailed in May following a complaint from a man alleging sexual abuse in France in 2010, when he was 12. Since then, Grosjean admitted to three other assaults in France. A victims’ collective has identified 17 potential victims in France from 57 men who had contact with him as minors.
These figures do not include the seven years Grosjean spent in Rabat after being moved there in 2017 following a prior French complaint, which was later dismissed. He returned to France in 2024 after facing new accusations in Morocco.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Grosjean firmly denied any sexual misconduct in Morocco.
The victims’ collective published an open letter on Monday criticizing the dioceses of Dijon and Rabat for staying silent about Grosjean’s repeated behavior.
Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat said he received no official reports about Grosjean. “I personally observed behaviors I considered inappropriate and dangerous for a priest,” he said, adding that the actions did not meet legal criteria for criminal proceedings.
The Dijon diocese noted in a statement that Grosjean was barred from any ministry involving minors in 2024, following the complaint that led to his imprisonment.