L’Equipe: Griezmann’s mentor Olhart was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor

According to L’Equipe, Griezmann’s mentor Eric Allhart was sentenced to 6 years in prison for sexually assaulting a minor.

After a trial on Tuesday, Allhart was sentenced to six years in prison for multiple charges of sexual assault of minors. In addition, he was permanently banned from working in jobs that come into contact with minors.

Allhart is the mentor of French star Griezmann. Allhart faced 6 charges of sexual assault against minors. After an hour and a half of closed court deliberations in the Pau Criminal Court, he was sentenced at 11:30 pm on Tuesday.

Prosecutors had asked for an eight-year prison sentence, but Allhart's lawyer, Larrey, asked the judge to drop all charges except for the charge of possessing pornographic images of minors. In his defense, attorney Larrey also pointed out inconsistencies and lies in the plaintiff's statements.

The trial lasted from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesday. Throughout the trial, Allhart denied all charges. Allhart's attorney has not said whether his client plans to appeal.

Before the judge closed the court for deliberations, Allhart made his final remarks: "I can understand people criticizing my harsh and demanding training methods, but when it comes to sex crime charges, I am really surprised. We always hope to get the truth, but we don't have high hopes."

When announcing the verdict, Allhart showed no particular emotion. He thanked his attorney and was handcuffed before leaving the courtroom.

Allhart arrived at the court a few minutes before the start of the trial, after a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Mont de Marsan prison. He has been held in that prison since July 22.

When he entered the court, Allhart had been removed from the handcuffs, but he did not glance towards the gallery. Since Allhart's last public appearance, his beard has turned gray, his hair is thinning, he has gained weight and he wears glasses.

All six victims attended the trial, although one of them left the courtroom early because he could not bear what he heard.

During the trial, 62-year-old Allhart firmly denied all accusations. At times he was sarcastic about inconsistencies in his accusers' descriptions and was vague in his explanations of some of his actions. He sometimes stuttered and was frequently questioned by the judge, particularly about his sexual orientation. He was careful to say he was bisexual, but stressed homosexuality was considered a "disease" in football. He also displayed some verbal aggression.

One of the plaintiffs came from Vietnam to attend the trial. During the adjournment, the young man told L'Equipe: "It's very complicated. None of my friends and family know about it, only my sister knows. I came quietly."

Allhart accepted several hours of cross-examination in the morning, and his character traits were mainly discussed in the afternoon. "Yes, I love physical contact, but I am within the scope of propriety and friendliness." Allhart said, "None of these boys have been violated or touched."

During the cross-examination that day, it was also mentioned that Allhart sent sexually suggestive messages to many young players. The judge became more and more impatient after seeing these numerous messages and said: "I want to know the purpose of these messages. Meaning."

"I just did things my own way, but not perverted," Allhart said of his training methods. "I may have made some mistakes, but I also did a lot of good things for the kids who were away from home."

The testimony of the four victims was very powerful, and they took the stand in the afternoon to express their guilt for not revealing the truth earlier. Their words moved everyone present.

Anthony was an excellent student and outstanding football player, and was selected by the Bordeaux youth team. "This experience troubled me for a long time. I have been emotionally unstable since then, often skipping school and smoking. I don't know why, but I am proud to stand up in court and say all this with my head held high. For me, the purpose of this trial is to make this person unable to hurt other children again."

Another Damian, a victim, said: "There is a lot to say. When I heard this person's voice, it was really sad, very sad."

Victim Thomas said that he was molested by Allhart when he was 14 years old: "His defense is ridiculous, just like this person is extremely ridiculous. Hearing so much It's ridiculous and really painful. He is a man with serious psychological problems. I feel a lot of guilt because I said it too late. Today I want to apologize to those who have been harmed by this society for as long as possible."

"Now I can't stand someone breathing behind my back. I hope this pervert will never touch children again. I now have children myself, and what he did makes me very angry."

Allhart said that he has been suffering from depression for many years, and he also talked about his experience of being sexually abused by his uncle when he was a child. Asked by the judge if he had imitated the behavior because it was a common pattern among sexual predators, Allhart responded: "Yes, I did suffer a lot, and it's easy to exonerate myself by saying that, but I don't think I would repeat the sexual assaults because I didn't do anything."