Gregory case: the facts brought against Jacqueline Jacob’s great-aunt are time-barred, the Dijon Court of Appeal announces – franceinfo

The investigative panel of the court ruled that a case cannot be brought against the eighty-year-old man for a “criminal association.”

Published 07/15/2026 10:09

Updated 07/15/2026 10:18

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Portrait of Gregory Villemain, found dead at the age of 4 with his hands and feet tied in Vologne, in the Vosges, October 16, 1984. (AFP)

A new twist in Gregory’s case. On Wednesday, July 15, justice declared the statute of limitations expired in relation to the actions imputed to Jacqueline Jacob, great-aunt of little Gregory Villemain, killed in 1984 in the Vosges, the Dijon Court of Appeal announced. Sitting behind closed doors, the investigative panel of the court considered that the facts of which the eighty-year-old man is accused are now crimes and the statute of limitations has expired.

Jacqueline Jacob, 81, was charged as of Oct. 24, 2025, with “criminal conspiracy.” Investigators suspect her of participating in the anonymous persecution of the parents of Gregory Vilmain before and after the murder of their son. According to a graphological examination, it was she who could have been the author of the letter in which she took responsibility for the murder of a 4-year-old boy who was found tied up and drowned in Vologna on October 16, 1984. Her lawyers asked that the charge be quashed, given, inter alia, that their client had failed to fully explain herself before being charged and that the facts dictated that she should do so. At the hearing at the end of May, the prosecutor’s office also joined the defense on this issue of restrictions.

The decision represents a new invalidation of the procedure in a case that has undergone many legal twists and turns over the past forty years. Jacqueline Jacob was previously charged with “kidnapping and arrest followed by death” in 2017 before the case was overturned due to a procedural error. Despite this decision, the investigation is not closed. Gregory’s parents, Christine and Jean-Marie Villemain, assured through their lawyer François Saint-Pierre that they would stay “serene”Considering that whatever the outcome of this procedural matter, the study will continue “until the truth comes out”.