French teacher sentenced for sexually assaulting 6 Minn. students
A French citizen who admitted to sexually assaulting six children while teaching at a language school based in St. Louis Park was sentenced last week to 12 years in a French prison.
Adrien Massy, 32, worked for the French Academy of Minnesota from 2008 to 2010.
In July 2010, Massy was charged by Beltrami County authorities with abusing two boys, ages 10 and 11, during a field trip to Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji. He fled the United States before authorities could arrest him.
Beltrami County Sheriff Phil Hodapp said his agency worked with St. Louis Park and Edina police and the U.S. Attorney's Office to make a case that Massy should be returned to the United States to stand trial. Although Massy was arrested in France two years ago, the French government chose not to extradite him. Instead, a court in Angers, France, tried Massey for the Minnesota crimes.
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"After we learned that France was not going to extradite him, I didn't expect anything beyond that," Hodapp said. "I kind of figured that was going to be the end of it for us unless he ever came back to the United States again," Hodapp said. "I was very pleased and surprised that it worked out the way it did."
Alain Frecon, the honorary French consul in Minneapolis, said Massy admitted to police after his arrest that he had abused the children in Minnesota, as well as previously abusing other children in France. Frecon said some of the Minnesota victims visited France and spoke to the prosecutor during the case.
"Since Mr. Massy acknowledged all the facts, all the prosecutor did was interview a few of the victims," Frecon said. "Since it corroborated everything Mr. Massy was saying, there was no need for the testimony of the children in court."
After a jury found Massy guilty on March 14, a judge sentenced him to a dozen years in prison and 10 years of probation dependent on completion of a treatment program. If he fails to comply with the terms of his parole, he faces an additional three years in prison. He is also banned from contact with children and must register on France's sex offender registry.