JULIEN BERTRAND, PARISIAN PAEDOPHILE, REOFFENDS DESPITE UK CONVICTION AND WORKS IN PARIS SCHOOLS
Julien Bertrand, a 37-year-old man from Nanterre in western Paris who was previously imprisoned for abusing boys in Britain, has been involved in new allegations of misconduct after his release.Born in Nanterre and educated in England, Bertrand was sentenced to six years in prison in 2006 for sex offenses against two boys aged 14 and 16, who were pupils at schools in Essex and Somerset between 2000 and 2005.
During his crimes, Bertrand subjected the victims to prolonged emotional manipulation, threatening self-harm unless they acquiesced to his demands.
He pretended to load a gun to coerce one of the boys into sex and showered another with gifts worth up to 5,000 pounds.
Despite his criminal record and registration as a sex offender in the UK, Bertrand moved to France upon his release, where he resumed work as a music teacher.
In 2011, he secured a position at Victor Hugo School, a prestigious international school in Paris with annual fees reaching 24,000 euros.
There, he groomed a 14-year-old student, sending him explicit texts that included repeated expressions of love.
Concerns from the boy’s father prompted the school to dismiss Bertrand in 2013.
Nevertheless, in 2014, Bertrand co-founded and became deputy head at Kingsworth International, a private school in Paris.
He also served as a shareholder.
When questioned about Bertrand’s employment despite his past, Kingsworth’s head teacher, Stephen Jankowski, stated that Bertrand had lied regarding his criminal history.
Parents at the school, which caters to children aged 3-18 and includes many British families, were informed via letter that Bertrand’s UK criminal record had been discovered, leading to his dismissal.
Officials confirm Bertrand left the school last month.
Jankowski defended the school’s procedures, claiming Bertrand had successfully passed background checks and asserting that the school prioritized child welfare, stating, “The welfare of the children is the school's priority and it acted immediately when it learned of his previous conviction.” Sonia Notarianni, an American parent involved in Kingsworth’s PTA, expressed concerns, saying: “We were told there were parents who were very upset and have left the school because of this, but that was because he was apparently an amazing teacher.
We wrongly understood that as a young man of 24 he had an affair with a 16-year-old girl or something.
There are no checks on parents volunteering in the school or anything.
When I volunteered at my child's old school in Florida, I had to have a full background search.” Bernard DeleSalle, president of Victor Hugo Schools, expressed horror at discovering Bertrand’s true nature.
He said, “To discover a devil in the middle of angels is not easy, especially when he is well disguised.
We are not infallible.
Thank God, Bertrand is the only devil we have met.” He explained that Bertrand’s creation of his own school, directly competing with existing institutions, prevented the school from uncovering his past sooner.
DeleSalle acknowledged the school was unaware of Bertrand’s time in England.
The school’s Facebook page, which once featured details of Bertrand’s involvement in recent skiing trips, has since removed all references to him.
The French education ministry admitted issues in tracking and vetting paedophile teachers, introducing a new law in 2016 aimed at improving cooperation between justice and education departments, though it remains unimplemented.
Bertrand’s current whereabouts are unknown as the school declined to comment and he could not be reached at his listed address.
He remains eligible to teach elsewhere.
The head of the Somerset school where Bertrand abused a pupil remarked, “As a citizen of this country as much as the head of a reasonably distinguished school, I find it extraordinary that the systems for safeguarding children do not appear to be better coordinated.
It is very worrying indeed.” The UK Home Office has indicated it can conduct criminal record checks for individuals who have resided in Britain and seek work with children abroad.
