Double Olympic gold medalist Yannick Agnel has been charged with r*pe of a teenage girl.
The French swimmer will stand trial after his appeal was rejected on Thursday (January 15).
The 33-year-old is suspected of having had a relationship in 2016 with Naomé Horter, the daughter of his former coach, who was 13 years old at the time, while he was 24.
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Trigger warning: this article discusses sensitive topics that may be distressing to some.
Agnel has never denied the relationship with the then-minor but has alleged that it was consensual and loving, Le Monde reported.
Horter, however, maintains that she was subjected to non-consensual relations.
Prosecutors said the alleged offences took place in various locations in 2016, including the French city of Mulhouse where Agnel trained, Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic Games, as well as Spain and Thailand.
Image credits: J.-L. Fel/L’Équipe
Prosecutor Edwige Roux-Morizot said “the facts constitute r*pe and s*xual as*ault due to the age difference, because the justice system considers that there is genuine moral duress.”
The investigation led to the athlete’s indictment in December 2021.
Agnel’s lawyers appealed the decision last May, but the appeals court in Colmar, northeastern France, rejected the request and ordered the trial to proceed.
Image credits: Mulhouse Olympic Swimming
The swimmer won two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics in the 200-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
The 33-year-old is also a three-time world champion across short course and long course events.
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He qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics but failed to get through the heats and announced his retirement soon after, Le Monde reported. That year, he said it was “time to sail on to other horizons.”
In 2013, the accused athlete was made a Knight (Chevalier) of France’s Legion D’honneur, the country’s highest decoration for public service or merit.
According to local sports outlet L’Équipe, several swimmers, both active and retired, have been questioned as part of the investigation.
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Agnel and Horter’s relationship was not a secret to members of his swimming club, Radio France reported.
The prosecutor described a relationship of “control” between the athlete and the teenager. He said Agnel “is aware of having done something serious” and that he “regrets” it.
According to local media, the relationship began with a New Year’s Eve kiss on December 31, 2015, in the swimmer’s apartment.
Image credits: FRANCE 24
The teen’s father, who was Agnel’s coach at the time, later moved Agnel into his home to closely monitor his training and lifestyle ahead of the Rio Olympics.
The two were allegedly together in Thailand, where the elite team of the Mulhouse Olympic Natation club went on a training camp in January and February 2016.
A swimmer told France Bleu that the teen, who is also a swimmer, “regularly” went to Agnel’s room during that stay.
Image credits: Vivre ensemble
“I had my doubts about what was going on,” the swimmer said, while others who were part of the trip wondered how the teen’s parents “could have seen nothing.”
During their hearing in 2021, her parents said they only became aware of the events two weeks before Horter filed a complaint.
“At 13, you’re not qualified to judge that. I feel sorry for her,” expressed another member of Agnel’s entourage.
Image credits: Getty/Aurelien Meunier
In 2024, the Olympic swimmer met for two hours with his accuser, the daughter of Lionel Horter, before a judge in Mulhouse. The request for the confrontation was made by Agnel and marked the first time the two had met in court.
No statements were released by lawyers on either side following the meeting.
The French law setting the age of consent at 15 was passed in 2021.
Prior to that, legislation stated that adults having s*x with someone under 18 was an offence, but there needed to be proof it was non-consensual to obtain a conviction of r*pe.
Image credits: Getty/Al Bello
Under the new law, which is closer in line with legislation in many other Western nations, an adult having s*x with an individual under 15 constitutes as r*pe and is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Meanwhile, an act of s*xual as*ault is punishable by a penalty of 10 years in prison.
Agnel has ten days to appeal to France’s top court, the Court of Cassation.
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