Date Set for Appeal Hearing In Yannick Agnel Case

The French Swimming Federation (FFN) is seeking to be a civil party in the sexual assault case against former Olympic swimming champion Yannick Agnel.

Agnel, who was indicted for rape and sexual assault of a minor last December, admitted to having sex with a minor shortly after he was released from police custody but denied coercion, which is an important distinction under French law.

Following Agnel’s indictment, the FFN said it was a civil party of the Mulhouse court in the case, but on February 2, that request was deemed inadmissible by the case’s investigating judge. The federation appealed the decision on February 10, and an appeal hearing has been set for June 16, according to L’Equipe.

In order to become a civil party in the case, the court would need to determine that FFN suffered material harm as a direct consequence of Agnel’s actions.

Agnel, who will be turning 30 in early June, was 24 at the time of the events that took place in 2016, while the victim, referred to as N in an investigation, was 13.

French law dictates that an adult cannot have consensual sex with somebody under the age of 15. In 2021, the French parliament adopted legislation that characterizes sex with a child under the age of 15 as rape and is punishable by up to 20 years in jail.

The investigation found that several members of the Mulhouse Olympic Swimming Club (MON) were well aware of the intimate relationship Agnel had with N, and that she was the daughter of Lionel and Marjorie Horter, who were both members of the club’s management. Lionel Horter was also Agnel’s primary coach during his time at MON.

Commercial Case: Agnel vs MON

In a separate case between Agnel and MON, the club was ordered to pay Agnel 60,000 euros in July 2020 for funds owing to the swimmer from his time at the club between 2014 and 2016.

MON appealed the decision, but in a hearing on March 18, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Agnel. The initial 60,000 euros was paid to Agnel after the initial trial in 2020 (a condition for holding the appeal trial), but MON was also ordered to pay an additional 2,000 euros to Agnel for legal costs.

The dispute stemmed from the club failing to pay Angel for the final year of his contract, as he was signed to represent them from 2014 to 2016. However, he announced his retirement during the 2016 Olympic Games after failing to advance out of the men’s 200 freestyle prelims, which took place in August, but his contract ran through December.

The Court of Appeal ruled that Agnel’s retirement from the sport did not prevent the club from using Agnel’s image for commercial gain, and therefore Agnel didn’t breach his contractual obligations.

Mulhouse public prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot had previously stated that there was no direct link between this case and Agnel’s sexual assault case.