The case shakes the Maison de la Radio: 71 former students denounce the tyrannical behavior of Denis Dupays, a former head of the Maîtrise de Radio France. In his career, traced by Le Parisien, we find a passage at the Opéra de Nantes, from where he was dismissed in 1985 for acts of sexual abuse of a singer. He also directed the Neuilly-sur-Seine choir, from which he was dismissed after a complaint for rape. Denis Dupays was however entrusted with the management of the prestigious Radio France Masters in 1989 and until 1998.
The dozens of testimonials from students who have followed his teaching for almost ten years at the Masters are similar. They denounce the sadism shown by the choirmaster. Since then, some of his choristers have even sunk into deep depressions and many have had to undergo psychological treatment. “I had attacks of tetany and spasmophilia which overwhelmed me after repeated bullying, says one of them to the Parisian. Everything was going well for me before the arrival of Denis Dupays in this master’s degree. Today, it’s been thirty years that I think I’m a failure, I never managed to resume singing.
Strong in his position, Denis Dupays had the power to choose who went on stage or not. “He would say to 10-12 year olds, for no reason, with a dark look: ‘get out’, just before going on stage. And they did not participate in the concert, ”recalls another victim.
These humiliations have deeply marked adolescent girls, who are often complexed at puberty. “One day, after telling a young girl in front of everyone that she was ugly and asking her if she had chickenpox – when she just had acne – when she broke down in tears , Denis Dupays asked her to make less noise when she cried, ”says a third former student who was herself sacked. “Sick with anxiety, I left the master’s degree, and I had been taken to another renowned ensemble. But Denis Dupays intervened, and I was finally told that I could not come. Fortunately, my parents intervened, I auditioned again, and I was finally accepted. But it is still unlikely to prosecute a former student.
It will take years for these testimonies to be exchanged and disseminated. First in a Facebook group, where former students tell of their experience with Denis Dupays. Then through a collective called Chœurs Brisés Agir. In the end, 71 former students published a column in Le Parisien on Wednesday to loudly denounce the facts and seek redress. “We call for breaking the silence around pedocrime, abuse and psychological violence in artistic learning and everywhere in France”, urges the text.
Le Parisien also interviewed Sibyle Veil, the current CEO of Radio France. “We are actively bringing up everything relating to this period: the archives we have, the memory of employees of the time, the testimony of former managers who are still alive,” explains the president. The appointment of this choirmaster in 1989, when he already had a reprehensible past, remains unclear for Sibyle Veil. She mentions “the absence of testimonies or substantiated facts” at the time and an investigation by the minors protection brigade which would not have been conclusive.
According to several plaintiffs, Denis Dupays would have been protected by Pascal Dumay, director of music at Radio France at the time. Nicole Simon-Laroche, pianist who worked with Denis Dupays, deplores the director’s lack of responsiveness despite complaints. “However, we had brought up many cases of mistreatment of young girls and inappropriate behavior and gestures towards boys. In vain.”, she explains to the Parisian. “We have several times sent letters to Pascal Dumay, the superior of Denis Dupays, explaining the humiliations that occurred in class, adds the father of a student. But he was still going to take it back in September after having thanked him in May 1998. This is what made me decide to file a complaint for abuse. Pascal Dumay was also sentenced in 2010 for “possession and dissemination of child pornography images.”
Nicole Simon-Laroche also says that she noticed a difference in behavior from Denis Dupays depending on whether he was in front of girls or boys. “Monster of wickedness” with the first, he would have shown a completely different interest in boys, which corroborates former students interviewed by Le Parisien. One of them recounts having “surprised him once in his office with a child on his lap. And we knew on tour that he invited the boys to his room to see films.
While waiting to find out more, the CEO of Radio France assures today that everything is being done to ensure that this does not happen again. Sibyle Veil details the procedures put in place: “the consultation of past convictions before any hiring of a supervisor at the Master’s, the prohibition of lessons or individual interviews with young students, the creation of an alert procedure in case of physical or psychological suffering of a child and increased vigilance during rounds”.
In the meantime, the Chœurs Brisés Agir collective promises new actions to come and tries to gather more testimonies, including from former students who had not attended the Maîtrise de Radio France.
