Star cellist goes on trial in France
NewsThe influential cellist Jérôme Pernoo has faced a criminal court in Paris, charged with sexual harrassment and assault of former students at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance. One of the students was a minor at the time. Four students gave evidence against their techer.
Pernoo was was dismissed from his post in May 2022 after a long legal process. He denies the charges. The prosecution has demanded a two-year jail sentence. The defence has moved to have the charges dismissed. The court will give its ruling at the end of September.
Court report here.
1) The testimony of the four students is consistent, credible, and damning.
2) He denies everything. Free legal advice to music teachers (or coaches or priests): Don’t travel alone, with a minor, drinking alcohol, at night, in your hotel room. Red flags, red flags, red flags. There is no excuse for it, and no explaining it, except to deny everything, which of course can only be his defense.
3) The French court won’t have a decision until… 26 September? OK, even with a 39 hour work week and 5 week vacation, taking the entire month of August off, does it still take 3 months for professional judges to come to a verdict on a straight forward case?
You ask, “does it still take 3 months for professional judges to come to a verdict on a straight forward case?”
Apparently you don’t know the French system, the masters of inefficiency, bloated bureaucracy and incompetence at every level.
In France, where the system doesn’t serve the people, but the people serve the system, 3 months is actually very short for something like this. I’m actually impressed.
You forgot all the cigarette breaks…
A GSMD professor was jailed a few years ago for similar offences dating back to the late Seventies.
Comme quoi……