Paris – 06.06.2026: The tragic case of 11-year-old Lyhanna, who was found dead in an abandoned grain silo in southwestern France, has uncovered potential flaws in the French judicial system. The main suspect, Jérôme B., a 41-year-old man previously accused of sexual abuse of minors, was already known to the authorities from earlier investigations that were dropped due to lack of evidence. Despite a new accusation in 2025, he remained free due to systemic delays, administrative inefficiencies, and insufficient risk assessment by the public prosecutor’s office.
A central element in this context is Cassiopée, the central case management system used in all French courts since 2008. This system is intended to facilitate the administration and tracking of proceedings by centralizing information about involved persons, crimes, convictions, and other case details. However, Cassiopée has repeatedly been criticized for technical deficiencies and inefficiencies. As early as 2011, numerous bugs were reported that hampered judicial workflows. Additionally, the system’s costs rose significantly from 4.4 million euros in 2006 to 142 million euros in 2018.
In the current Lyhanna affair, these deficiencies raise questions. It is suspected that previous proceedings against the main suspect may not have been properly recorded in Cassiopée, leading to delays and loss of information. An experienced prosecutor expressed doubts about the likelihood of data entry errors, since when a case is dropped, the information is forwarded to the office responsible for entering data into Cassiopée. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether all relevant data were properly entered in this specific case.
Criticism of Cassiopée is not new. Judicial clerks’ unions have repeatedly pointed out the numerous bugs and delays that increase workload and raise the risk of errors. They emphasize that staff spend too much time working around technical problems instead of focusing on their core tasks.
In response to the allegations, the French government has launched an internal investigation to determine the causes of delays and possible errors in handling the Lyhanna case. Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin described the situation as “unacceptable” and promised to make the investigation results public and to take appropriate consequences if necessary.
The Lyhanna affair has thus not only highlighted the tragic circumstances of the individual case but also exposed structural weaknesses in the French judicial system, especially in the use of central administrative tools like Cassiopée. The ongoing investigations will be crucial in determining the extent to which technical deficiencies and organizational shortcomings contributed to the tragedy.