TV host Jean

Jean-Marc Morandini has been definitively convicted by the French justice system for corruption of minors. The Court of Cassation confirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal on Wednesday, January 14, which found him guilty of sending sexual messages and requests to three teenagers between 2009 and 2016. Initially, the host was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probationary period. The Court of Appeal increased this sentence to two years of suspended prison and a €20,000 fine, as well as a lifelong ban on working in a profession involving minors and registration in the sex offenders’ database.

A few hours after the Court of Cassation’s ruling, CNews announced that the host would remain on air. “Jean-Marc Morandini continues his fight for justice and he remains on air on CNews,” the channel explained in a statement sent to AFP. In a separate statement, the host announced that he and his lawyers were now considering the possibility of appealing to the European Court of Human Rights following this decision by the Court of Cassation, which they consider “particularly unfair.”

In this case, the 60-year-old host was accused of asking a 16-year-old teenager in 2009 to undress and masturbate during an audition for a film that was never made. He was also accused of sending messages to two other 15-year-olds in 2013 and 2015-2016. With one, he discussed sexual scenarios, and with the other, he requested a nude photo.

This figure in the French audiovisual landscape was also convicted on appeal in January 2025 to eighteen months of suspended prison for sexual harassment against a young actor, six months more than the initial sentence. In this case, he was charged with encouraging actors between the ages of 19 and 26 at the time of the events to expose themselves naked for the castings of the web series “Les Faucons,” of which he was the producer. In this other case, the host has also filed an appeal to the Court of Cassation, which has not yet been heard.