Doc gave Viagra to paedophile
2007-08-20 19:05
Lille - A doctor in northern France has admitted prescribing the anti-impotency drug Viagra to a convicted paedophile charged with the rape of a five-year-old boy, a local prosecutor said on Monday.
The doctor who worked at the Caen prison told police that he was not given access to his patient's criminal records when he prescribed the drug in June, according to sources close to the case.
Francis Evrard, 61, was arrested on Wednesday for the kidnapping and rape of the boy in the northern city of Roubaix. Police said Evrard was in possession of Viagra tablets.
The case has shocked France and prompted President Nicolas Sarkozy to call a special meeting with senior ministers on Monday to discuss stricter measures for sexual delinquents.
The deputy prosecutor in the northern city of Lille, Brigitte Lamy, said a doctor on Sunday "had turned up at a Caen police station and admitted to writing the prescription".
No further details were released on the doctor who apparently was told by Evrard in June that he wanted "to meet girls" after he was released from prison on July 2.
President's support
Evrard walked free last month after serving 27 years for various convictions in 1975, 1985 and 1989 on charges of indecent exposure and rape of minors.
Evrard's lawyer Jerome Pianezza said at the weekend that his client had asked for Viagra because he suffered from erection problems.
The family of five-year-old boy, who was raped in a garage in Roubaix, reacted angrily to reports that the convicted paedophile had been given Viagra.
"It's like giving a weapon to a hold-up man after he is released from prison," said lawyer Emmanuel Riglaire, representing the family.
Sarkozy met with the boy's father at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris and vowed to enact tougher laws against repeat sex offenders.
"Mr president gave me his support," said Mustafa Kocakurt, who was accompanied by the boy's grandfather.
"I came here so that the laws can be changed, can be made stricter against monsters like this man," said Kocakurt. "I don't think it's normal that he was allowed out."
Crucial alerts
"Mr president promised to change all that," he said.
Police were able to quickly track down Evrard due to a new alert system that makes massive use of radio and television announcements as well as notices at train stations and on highways to get assistance from the general public.
The alert system, modelled after one used in Texas, provides for a rapid response as investigators stress that action in the 24 hours following a kidnapping are crucial to save the child's life.