A former colleague of Sylvain L. tells of an “unhealthy” and “dangerous” man who sexually assaulted her on several occasions. The man is the main suspect in the death of Héléna Cluyou.
The portrait takes shape little by little. We learn more about the personality of Sylvain L., the main suspect in the death of Héléna Cluyou, a young woman who disappeared at the end of January in Brest, in Finistère, and whose found body was identified as hers this Saturday. One of his former colleagues describes an “unhealthy” man who repeatedly sexually assaulted him, in Le Figaro this Saturday. He died Thursday after two suicide attempts.
“He was coming back to the charge”
The 23-year-old young woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, says she knew Sylvain L., 36, when she was barely of age. In 2018, when she was 18, she worked in a restaurant in Brest, where the 30-something was a cook.
The young woman approaches him and very quickly, they both decide to go on an excursion for a weekend. But, during the stay, he tries physical rapprochements by being insistent, despite the young woman’s repeated refusals.
“He was trying to give me little hugs. (…) He moved on and then came back to the charge,” she laments.
It may well express its annoyance, Sylvain L. does not hear it. “I told him ‘no’ again, and there he started to be more enterprising and to caress my chest. I got really angry and got out of the car,” she recalls.
Not enough to make the cook react, who replies that it is only a “game”. “We don’t care, it’s funny,” he replies.
“High and drunk”
The young woman also confirms that Sylvain L. regularly consumed large quantities of alcohol, which several of his relatives have already confided to BFMTV.
One morning in particular, she saw him arrive at their workplace “still stoned and drunk”. She assures that the thirties then evokes his evening the day before with a young woman and that he claims to have had non-consensual sexual intercourse with her.
“He explained that he had forced her and that he had ruined her on the hood of his car. He said that it had excited him”, she denounces.
A “sexual predator”
For her, this episode is typical of the personality of Sylvain L. whom she describes as a “sexual predator” having “no limits on anything”, but also “unhealthy and dangerous”.
On several occasions, he has inappropriate gestures towards her, but also towards other women. “Sylvain had an annoying tendency to touch us very easily, whether it was me or my female colleagues (…). It was unhealthy and intrusive”, she believes.
These repeated scenes sometimes took place in the presence of witnesses, but without arousing any reaction. “He was super authoritarian, he had his hands on people, it was very weird,” she analyzes.
One of his ex-girlfriends, Marielle Smits, testified this Saturday on BFMTV about her daily life with Sylvain L. She evokes several rapes and describes a “toxic” man consuming alcohol, cannabis and cocaine.
The 36-year-old man died on Thursday after two suicide attempts. A charred body was found the same day south of Brest. The public prosecutor of Brest announced this Saturday that it is that of Héléna Cluyou. The causes of his death have not yet been established.
