Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Netflix is great at delivering documentaries that shock viewers, but one of its latest titles has actually left people feeling ‘sick to their stomach’.
Following on from the unbelievable scenes in American Nightmare and the jaw-dropping details of The Program, Netflix has delivered once again with a true crime docuseries set in northern France.
The Netflix series focuses on alleged crimes, which took place in the early 2000s, with four episodes detailing how an investigation into four children from one family turned into one of 'the biggest scandals in French history'.
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Titled The Outreau Case: A French Nightmare, the series reveals how the children from the family began to open up about abuse they had faced, prompting their parents to admit to sexual abuse.
However, the case only got more convoluted when the couple started naming neighbors and friends who had allegedly also been involved.
As the investigation went on, it uncovered an alleged pedophilia ring which included suspects such as a priest, a taxi driver and a court bailiff.
The mother later retracted her accusations against the others in her community and told the court she was a 'sick woman and a liar'.
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What followed the investigation was what has been described as a 'judicial tragedy', or a 'judicial Chernobyl' involving public outrage and wrongful convictions - but some viewers barely made it to that section of the documentary after the details left them shocked and disturbed.
A number of viewers took to X to share their thoughts after attempting to watch the documentary.
In a post on the platform formerly known as Twitter, one viewer commented: "The Outreau Netflix documentary is making me sick to my stomach but the [worst] part is the adults belittling the information the children gave, considering what we know today and how sick the world is, it’s not hard to believe those accusations are true.”
Another wrote: "I started watching the outreau case on Netflix…..let me tell u there is not a single trigger warning that could prepare u for what those kids said happened to them I had to turn that s**t off MY GOODNESS."
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A total of 18 people were accused of being involved in the Outreau case, of which 10 were convicted.
Later, six of those 10 were acquitted of the crimes.
If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Topics: Crime, Film and TV, Netflix, True crime, Sexual Abuse, World News, Twitter