CSA’s Baudis denies charges
May 20, 2003 - The Hollywood Reporter
PARIS—Dominique Baudis, head of French broadcasting regulator CSA, has denied allegations linking him to a new investigation that includes charges of sadomasochism and the rape of minors, citing his work with the CSA to eradicate pornography from French television as motivation to slander his character.
The investigation focuses on the Toulouse criminal dealings of convicted serial killer Patrice Alegre, who allegedly was the leader of a prostitution ring whose clients may have included several of the city’s officials and, it is alleged, Baudis.
“Everything is false from A to Z,” said Baudis, calling the claims a “dreadful machination” on French channel TF1’s Sunday evening news. Baudis decided to “take the slander by the throat” and refute the claims made by three unnamed French prostitutes before being potentially called to the stand in a further investigation against Alegre.
In the interview, Baudis denied any sort of sexual wrongdoing and claimed to “never have had contact from near or far” with Alegre.
The claims of Baudis’ involvement are part of a file kept on Alegre’s alleged dealings as a prostitution ringleader.
Baudis, who was the mayor of Toulouse from 1983-2001, learned Friday that his name appeared in the file. According to Monday’s French newspaper Le Monde, though two of the prostitutes who implicated Baudis have been interrogated about Alegre for more than three years, they only began to mention him in February.
Citing a risk to children, Baudis and the CSA led a July proposal to ban pornography from French television channels and continue to lobby the government to this cause. France’s relatively lenient rules on broadcasting pornography came under scrutiny once re-elected President Jacques Chirac’s new ministerial cabinet took form earlier this year.
The CSA declined comment Monday. A phone call to Baudis’ lawyer was not returned by press time.
