I believe strongly that we should not judge or shade the children for the sins of the parents. But I also believe that there’s no getting around the fact that the headlines are absolutely terrible, and that Pippa Middleton and her husband, Terribly Moderately Wealthy James Matthews, must be devastated and embarrassed. Especially because so many of the headlines have framed this is as “Pippa Middleton’s father-in-law charged with rape of a minor.” Pippa’s father-in-law is David Matthews. He is rich and well-connected and most of the headlines about him (before now) were about how he’s a well-connected hotelier. He owns the Eden Rock hotel on St Barts. He’s being accused of raping a 15-year-old in St. Barts (and raping the same minor again in France).
Pippa Middleton‘s father-in-law has been held on suspicion of historic rapes of a minor. Millionaire hotel boss David Matthews, 74, faced court on Thursday after cops stopped him at Paris airport. The ‘attack’ is alleged to have happened on the exclusive French island of St Barts — where he owns a $7,000-a-night hotel. Multi-millionaire David Matthews, 74, has lived with wife Jane on the Caribbean retreat for more than 20 years.
He was seized by cops from France’s child protection unit at Paris Orly Airport on Tuesday over two historic rape allegations. After 48 hours in custody Mr. Matthews then appeared at the city’s Palais de Justice on Thursday and was later questioned over the alleged rape of minor.
Mr. Matthews strenuously denies all the allegations. The authorities now have six months to decide if he will be brought to trial. Mr. Matthews was released on bail, with a number of conditions which were not disclosed by French authorities. A Paris judicial official said: “I confirm that David M was placed in police custody on March 27 at the Brigade for the Protection of Minors. The Paris public prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation, overlooked by an examining magistrate, who charged him with the rape of a minor. He was placed under judicial supervision. The investigation alleges that the crimes were committed in 1998 and 1999. The investigations will now continue as a judicial investigation and will be led by an investigating judge.”
The swoop came as Mr. Matthews arrived in Paris on his way to the South of France. It follows a police probe which began last September. One of the alleged offences is said to have taken place in 1998 on St Barts. The other alleged attack is said to have taken place in Paris the following year.
A day later, the Daily Mail reported that the French authorities did allow Matthews to keep his passport and he has permission to return to his home in St. Barts while the investigation is ongoing and while prosecutors decide whether or not they will go to trial. As for the alleged victim, she was apparently 15 years old when the first attack happened in 1998.
The woman who claims she was raped by Pippa Middleton’s father-in-law has told French prosecutors that she was just 15 when he first attacked her. David Matthews, whose son James married Pippa last year, is currently on police bail after being arrested in Paris. He is accused of raping the woman in the late 1990s when she was a teenager. His alleged victim, now aged 34, lives in the UK but is understood to have come forward to police in Paris last year. Her mother is said to be ‘helping her with the case’.
A source close to the enquiry said: ‘The victim was just 15 at the time of the first attack, and the attacks continued.’ The first alleged assault is said to have taken place on the Caribbean island of St-Barts in 1998 and the second in Paris a year later. The source added: ‘These are the attacks investigators are focusing on. A formal complaint was made to police in 2017.’
Statute of limitations for rape cases in France is 20 years after the victim has turned 18. The victim in this case would have turned 18 in 2003. This means the case can be dealt with up until 2023.
That’s interesting that French law is so different on sex crimes than we have here in America. I still don’t believe there should be any statute of limitations on rape, but twenty years gives victims more time than most American statutes of limitations. As for the crime, alleged or not – I have no idea. I have no idea what this man is capable of. I think the timeline is interesting – she came forward in the fall of 2017, the height of the #MeToo movement, when many assault and harassment victims were coming forward and telling their stories publicly, and telling their stories to police. We’ll see.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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