Lydia Gouardo (born 13 November 1962) is a French woman, born in

Maisons-Alfort Maisons-Alfort () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fort de Charenton, constructed betwe ...

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a pop ...

, who was imprisoned for 28 years, raped, and tortured by her stepfather, Raymond Gouardo, in their home in

Meaux Meaux () is a commune on the river Marne in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is east-northeast of the centre of Paris. Meaux is, with Provins, Torcy and Fontainebleau, ...

and

Coulommes Coulommes () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Seine-et-Marne department The following is a list of the 507 communes of the Seine-et-Marne departmen ...

in Seine et Marne. The abuse took place from 1971 to 1999.

Background and disappearance

Lydia gave birth to six children, all by her stepfather. During her imprisonment, she escaped and phoned legal aid, but her stepfather recaptured her in a family residence in

Melun Melun () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the kilome ...

. She was finally freed in 1999 when her stepfather died. The abuse started when she was eight years old. Lydia claimed to have run away from her stepfather when he hit her too hard but was always brought back by the police when she was a minor. She claimed to have not realized that the abuse was unusual. She bears the scars of her torture from her neck to her ankles from where her captor burned her with boiling water and

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid Acid strength is the tendency of an acid, symbol ...

. She still lives in the same house with the attic where she was locked up in, but she does not venture up there anymore.

Aftermath

She wrote a book about her story, ''Le silence des autres'' (The Silence of Others), with the French journalist and writer

Jean-Michel Caradec'h Jean-Michel Caradec'h (22 March 1950 – 17 November 2022)''Annie_Girardot''._''La_mémoire_de_ma_mère''_Giulia_Salvatori._Éditions_Michel_Lafon.html" ;"title="Annie Girardot''. ''La mémoire de ma mère''">Annie Girardot">''Annie Girardot ...

in 2008. She admitted that it was the worldwide news of the

Fritzl case The Fritzl case emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) told police in the town of Amstetten, Lower Austria, Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl (born 9 April 1935). J. ...

that made her talk; she said she wanted to be friends with Elisabeth Fritzl because she would feel less alone and she could support her. Gouardo believes the world "ignored her ordeal" as an incest and abuse victim. In her book she criticises the media and authorities for neglecting her case, if it were not for the Fritzl case. Her stepmother Lucienne was convicted in a closed-door trial for failure to report the crimes she was aware of and for sexual abuse against one of Lydia's children, and was given a three-year suspended jail sentence, however the prosecution appealed and her sentence was increased to a four-year suspended jail sentence. Police also suspect Raymond Gouardo in the murder of four other girls in the Paris area in 1987. Raymond's body was exhumed to extract his DNA for tests on one of the victims which have not shown any link with Gouardo and other evidence is circumstantial.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouardo, Lydia 1962 births 1970s missing person cases Child sexual abuse in France Formerly missing people Living people Kidnapped French people Kidnappings in France Missing French children Missing person cases in France People from Maisons-Alfort