A French school aide went on trial in Paris on Tuesday accused of sexually assaulting kindergarten pupils, in the first such public hearing since a flurry of allegations of abuse rocked the capital. Parents in the city have in recent months accused supervisors in charge of children outside the classroom – such as during recess or before pick-up – of mistreating or physically or sexually abusing pupils in their care. The French capital's new mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, a Socialist who says he suffered sexual abuse himself during an after-school swimming programme in primary, has announced dozens of suspensions and pledged to stamp out such violence. Read moreFrance ponders failure to protect children as school abuse scandal rocks Paris David G., a 36-year-old freelance journalist who worked in a kindergarten to help make ends meet, has been charged with sexual assault of five preschoolers aged three to five and sexual harassment of two female colleagues between September 2024 and April 2025. The defendant, who has denied the charges, arrived in a packed court on Tuesday afternoon, shielding his face from photographers by holding up a yellow document file. Four other families have also accused him of sexually abusing their children in cases not reviewed by the prosecutor's office, but that will be referred to in court. Dozens of activists protested outside before the trial started. "We're hoping for a real conviction, a harsh one, because there are so few when it comes to sexual assaults on children," said Anne, who did not give her surname and said her son goes to the same school in Paris' 11th district. Allegations at 84 kindergartens The mayor's office said the defendant had been suspended immediately in April last year after parents complained and the principal alerted the authorities. Read moreChildren ‘subjected to monstrosities’: Report exposes decades of abuse in French schools Police gathered statements from very young children describing, in their own words, how the defendant touched their private parts. The accused, who risks 10 years in jail and a fine of 150,000 euros ($175,000), denies the accusations. But he admitted to breaking the guidelines, including that an adult looking after pupils should not have a child sit on their lap.