At the hearing on Friday, cellist Jérôme Pernoo had to face four of his former students.
Prosecutors on Friday, May 26, requested two years’ imprisonment, including a suspended sentence, against cellist Jérôme Pernoo, who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor and sexual harassment at the Paris penitentiary, allegations he denies altogether. For the 51-year-old former professor at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris (CNSMDP), prosecutors also requested a duty of care, compensation for civil parties and a professional ban. The Paris Criminal Court has reserved its September 26 decision.
Jérôme Pernoo was first suspected of sexually assaulting a minor in London in 2005, against a then 14-year-old student, according to whom his teacher “Surprisingly caressed sex while sleeping in bed“The now 32-year-old was his student, especially during the internships when he was between 10 and 17 years old. He considered him his “surrogate father“after losing his very young child.”That scene absolutely never happened“, Jérôme Pernoo told a crowded courtroom, making sure that “Never” have “woke up a student in his bed“. In front of him, at the wheel, the 30-year-old maintained his story and said to himself: “very angry“against his ex-teacher who”pretends to be a mad mythomaniac“.
The sexual harassment of two young adults is also suspected
Jérôme Pernoo is also suspected of sexually harassing two young adults, a man and a woman, between 2011 and 2016. The first was another of the cellist’s students, whom he considered his ‘spiritual father’, at the conservatory. The plaintiff reported: “Slap on the buttocks“, from “chat bites– a “game” consisting of surprisingly touching each other’s genitals while screaming said formula – and “stolen” kisses. Which Jérôme Pernoo refuted by saying he had “Never“Had such gestures on”no student“.
The young man also described an alcoholic evening during a trip to Belarus, where the teacher invited him to “h”.Homage to a Russian tradition“Consists of kissing each other on the mouth after drinking. The former student agreed for the first time, but claimed he had to turn down the teacher’s requests several times after that.”This scene is completely constructed, made up‘ repeated the defendant.
The young woman in green trousers and a white top says in a trembling voice that Jérôme Pernoo touched her breasts during the same trip and claims a game called “pouet pouet“(Palpation). She pushes him away, but”the extraordinary cello teacher“takes the situation as a joke.”I haven’t touched it (ses) Boobs, that’s not my kind of humor at all. I don’t do “chat-bite”, no “pouet-pouet”!“, replies Jérôme Pernoo, thereby also rejecting the young woman’s accusation of the nickname he would have given her at the time: “my little pussy“.
“I almost fooled myself because of him”
At the end of 2022, a renowned young musician who had previously intervened in support of his mentor also decided to speak out against the professor. A further investigation was launched and Jérôme Pernoo was charged with sexually assaulting a minor by an authority figure between the ages of 15 and 17 and later sexually molesting the man who had since grown up. The young cellist assures that the defendant, among other things, “tried to kiss her“, he had “various caresses imposed“and sent”many love messages“.”I almost fooled myself because of him (…) He does not know the difference between children, adolescents and adults‘ he cries at the bar, in a white shirt and black jeans.
Jérôme Pernoo, a teacher at the CNSMDP since 2007, was suspended and then released in May 2022, after an administrative inquiry and disciplinary proceedings, without notice or compensation. A decision was upheld by the administrative court in November: the teacher appealed. “I lost my job, I have no more money, no one invites me to a concert‘ Jérôme Pernoo started. The defense pleaded for the entire case to be dropped.
