© Franck Prevel / AP
France was shocked by the involvement of mothers in the abuse
France was shocked by the involvement of mothers in the abuse
Yet what occurred here between 1999 and 2002, years when surveys named Angers as one of the best places to live in France, has horrified the nation. In what could become the biggest French criminal proceeding ever, 39 men and 27 women went on trial last month for involvement in a massive prostitution trade of 45 children - many of them their own. At least 26 men and 13 women are accused of directly prostituting and raping girls and boys, some of whom were still in kindergarten. Prosecutors say that over three years, some 21 couples traded their children for cash, groceries and, in one case, a new car tire. According to prosecutors, Marine V., a pretty blond girl who's now 9, was just one of the victims. She was allegedly raped by about 30 men, including neighbors, uncles, her father and grandfather. Marine's mother acted as banker, allege prosecutors, collecting envelopes full of cash.
Comment: History remembers Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steven Wozniak, Gordon Moore, and Steve Ballmer. History has forgotten Chuck Peddle, Jack Tramiel, and Irving Gould. And that's how the winners have written it for the last 25 years. Steve Jobs has been so brazen that he was claiming to be selling the #1 computer on the market when in fact the Apple II had less than 1/10th the market of the Commodore VIC-20. Hollywood has released revisionist tales such as Pirates of Silicon Valley which completely left out the world's largest computer maker during the time of the movie.