A 53-year-old man is set to face trial in the Jura region of France for allegedly sexually abusing his son between the ages of 7 and 14 and forcing him into prostitution. The trial is expected to begin this Thursday and will likely last until October 14 in the town of Lons-le-Saunier. The accused regained custody of his son after the death of the child’s mother, who struggled with alcoholism. He is also being prosecuted for targeting eight other teenagers, with charges including rape, sexual assault, pimping, and corruption of minors. These alleged crimes are said to have occurred between early 2016 and June 2023. Two other men, aged 52 and 58, will be tried alongside him. They are suspected of repeatedly raping the son and one of his friends, who were between 11 and 15 years old at the time. According to the prosecution, the accused allegedly forced the two young boys to engage in paid sexual relationships with men contacted through the website coco.fr. These encounters reportedly took place in a forest. The trial is likely to be held in closed session, as requested by Agnès Ravat-Sandre, the lawyer of the main victim, a teenager now 17 years old. The accused fled to Chile in 2023 after learning that a complaint had been filed against him but was extradited to France the following year. The accused’s lawyer, Marjorie Weiermann, stated that her client "generally admits" the facts committed against his son and his friend but "disputes" some of the other accusations. Weiermann noted that the accused "has become aware of the abnormality of his behavior and the harm he caused to minors, knowing that he himself was introduced to sexuality at a young age as a child, without suffering from it." She added that the accused "remains very attached to his son and wishes to be able to one day reestablish a normal relationship." Since the accused’s flight to Chile and subsequent arrest, the son has been placed with an uncle. The teenager’s lawyer emphasized that the trial will be "a trial" for the son, as there is "inevitably a conflict of loyalty," with the accused being "both his attacker, who committed serious acts against him, and his father, who remains his father." The young man, who will turn 18 in November, "knows that it will be difficult and painful for him, but there will be relief at the end."