Crépol case: investigating judges consider racist motive an aggravating circumstance

Crépol – 24 July 2026: The small town of Crépol, in the Drôme, is once again at the center of proceedings that have occupied France for nearly three years. In the case of murdered teenager Thomas Perotto, the investigating judges have added a racist motive as an aggravating circumstance to the charges against those under investigation. The new order closing the investigation is dated 20 July.

Thomas Perotto was 16 when he was fatally injured on the night of 18 to 19 November 2023, outside a winter dance in Crépol. The violence outside the village hall at the time affected more people. For the relatives and residents of the town, what remained above all was the void after that night: a teenager who did not return home and a village whose name became a symbol across the country of a shocking crime.

According to press reports, the investigating judges base the aggravating circumstance now being considered on witness statements about remarks allegedly made at the end of the dance. The investigation is therefore examining whether the victims may have been attacked because of their actual or perceived belonging to the white population group and the French nation. This assessment is a procedural decision; it does not replace either the taking of evidence in a trial or a judicial determination of individual guilt.

The Valence Public Prosecutor’s Office had not included the racist motive in the requested charges in its final submission of 12 June. According to this, it had requested that eleven people under investigation be referred to the juvenile criminal court with a jury for murder and attempted murder. The differing assessments show how controversial the analysis of the statements and the sequence of events has remained in these proceedings.

The most recent step has not yet resulted in a verdict. The investigating judges must now decide whether to admit charges before the jury court and against whom. They may follow the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s requests or depart from them. Possible appeals by the parties to the proceedings also remain part of the subsequent process. Until a final decision is reached, all those under investigation are presumed innocent.

For the proceedings, the addition primarily means that the question of a possible discriminatory motive is no longer left at the margins of the case file. It must be expressly examined in any potential trial. Precisely because the crime quickly sparked political interpretations and public polarization, a precise and contradiction-free clarification remains crucial—for Thomas Perotto’s family, the other people affected, and the credibility of the justice system.