Grandfather held over the loss of life of little Emile was quizzed over alleged violence and sexual assault at Catholic college the place he labored within the Nineties – as secret police wiretap reveals ‘household row’ earlier than bombshell arrest

The grandfather of a little French boy whose remains were in the Alps was previously questioned over alleged sexual assault and violence at a private Catholic school he worked at.

Grandparents Philippe and Anne Vedovini, both 59, were on Tuesday taken into custody along with two of their adult children, in connection with the alleged killing of Émile Soleil.

The two-year-old was staying at the Vedovinis’ isolated holiday home in the Alpine hamlet of Haut-Vernet, south of Grenoble, when he went missing in July 2023.

His remains, including a fractured skull, were found nearby nine months later, following daily searches.

At dawn today, police raided the family’s permanent home, near Marseille, and arrested them.

Simultaneous swoops by police nearby led to the arrests of the other two suspects, who have not been identified by name.

All are under suspicion of ‘intentional homicide’ and ‘concealing a corpse’, said a statement released by Aix-en-Provence prosecutors. It was also revealed today by Le Parisien that the family’s phones were tapped for several months in the leadup to the arrest. 

Last year, French news outlets including Le Parisien and the highly respected investigative newspaper Le Canard enchaîné [The Chained Duck] reported disturbing  information about Mr Vedovini.

‘It is above all his past that raises questions,’ wrote Le Parisien, as it outlined details of a sex abuse scandal at a Roman Catholic school in the 1990s.

It also confirmed Mr Vedovini – who denied any wrongdoing – ‘has attracted the attention of gendarmes and constitutes one of their many lines of enquiry’.

Mr Vedovini was training to be a monk when he worked at Riaumont, a Catholic community that includes a boarding school for troubled youngsters in northern France.

Situated at Liévin, in the Pas-de-Calais, it was run by Benedictine monks who received complaints from former pupils between 2014 and 2017.

They said they had suffered sexual abuse, including rape, in the early 1990s, as well as regular physical beatings.

Mr Vedovini, who was known as Brother Philippe when he worked at the school between 1991 and 1994, was implicated in the enquiry as an ‘assisted witness’.

Interviewed by police in April 2018, he admitted to administering ‘somewhat harsh’ physical discipline, but said he had never broken the law, according to a source close to the enquiry. 

Eleven former colleagues – seven religious and four lay staff – ended up being indicted on various charges.

The public prosecutor in Béthune confirmed the criminal investigation was ‘still in progress’ and ‘should soon be completed’.

Mr Vedovini gave up his vocation to become a monk in order to marry his wife, Anne Vedovini.

Both remain devout Roman Catholics who brought up ten children, including Émile’s mother – who is now known by her married name of Marie Soleil.

Police said this morning: ‘This morning, Philippe Vedovini and his wife, grandparents of Émile Soleil, along with two of their adult children, were taken into custody’ by investigators from the Marseille gendarmerie’s investigation section.

‘These police custody placements are part of a phase of verification and comparison of the evidence and information gathered during the investigations carried out in recent months.’

The statement adds: ‘Investigators are also conducting forensic operations in various locations across the country.’

Isabelle Colombani, the grandparents’ lawyer, confirmed the arrest to AFP, France’s national news agency, but said she had no further comment to make.

The arrests took place at 6.30am at La Bouilladisse, just north of Marseille, in France’s Bouches-du-Rhône department.

Émile was staying at Haut-Vernet at the time of his disappearance, and vanished while under the supervision of his grandfather – who later admitted ‘fifteen minutes of inattention.’

The search for the child finally ended when Emile’s bones were found in March 2024 by a rambler.

A witness saw Mr Vedovini, a physiotherapist-osteopath, cutting wood outside his house around the time Émile is thought to have wandered from the property in Haut-Vernet.

The extreme-Right-wing political background of the family has also been examined by police.

Émile’s father, Colomban Soleil, 27, was arrested for ‘an attack on foreigners’ in 2018.

He appeared before judges in Aix-en-Provence and was released from custody after pledging to maintain the peace.

At the time, Mr Soleil was an activist linked to Action Francaise, the far-Right nationalist and royalist group, as well as the neofascist Bastion Social. 

Three years later, in 2021, Mr Soleil and his wife stood as local election candidates in the Marseille area, supporting the Reconquest party of Éric Zemmour, the convicted racist and Islamophobe who tried to become president of France in 2023.

Their election slogans at the time identified them as ‘friends of Éric Zemmour’ who wanted to ‘clean out the system’.

Emile’s parents are not believed to be the two adult children arrested alonsgide their parents today.