Lydia Gouardo (born 13 November 1962) is a
French woman, born in
Maisons-Alfort
Maisons-Alfort () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris.
Maisons-Alfort is famous as the location of the National Veterinary School of Alfort. The Fo ...
,
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 ...
,
who was imprisoned for 28 years, raped, and tortured by her stepfather, Raymond Gouardo, in their home in
Meaux
Meaux () is a Communes of France, commune on the river Marne (river), Marne in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, Franc ...
and
Coulommes 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, who was born in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
on 24 May 1937. During her imprisonment, she escaped and phoned legal aid, but her stepfather recaptured her in a family residence in
Melun
Melun () is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the centre of the capital. Melun is the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, ...
.
She was finally freed on 20 November 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 or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...
. 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)Fritzl case
The Fritzl case was a case that emerged in 2008, when a woman named Elisabeth Fritzl (born 6 April 1966) informed investigators in the city of Amstetten, Lower Austria, that she had been held captive for 24 years by her father, Josef Fritzl ( ...
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.
See also
*
List of long-term false imprisonment cases
This is a list of notable long-term false imprisonment cases.
Cases involving children imprisoned by relatives
* Álvarez incest case, Alba Nidia Álvarez, Mariquita, Colombia, 25 years, discovered in March 2009.
* Anna (feral child), "Anna", Pe ...
*
List of kidnappings
The following is a list of kidnappings summarizing the events of each case, including instances of celebrity abductions, claimed hoaxes, suspected kidnappings, extradition abductions, and mass kidnappings.
By date
* List of kidnappings befo ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouardo, Lydia
1962 births
1970s missing person cases
Child sexual abuse in France
Formerly missing French people
Living people
Kidnapped French people
Kidnappings in France
Missing French children
Missing person cases in France
People from Maisons-Alfort