A 58-year-old man was arrested after allegedly trying to break into a woman’s home, with police later finding 94 pairs of women’s underwear at his house and launching an appeal to trace the owners
A man caught breaking into a woman’s home has been accused of stealing almost one hundred pairs of women’s underwear. Local police have since issued an appeal for witnesses to help locate the owners of the knickers.
A resident of Mancenans, Doubs, France, called the gendarmerie (French police) at around 2pm on Wednesday (April 29) after noticing someone trying to force their lock. Subsequently, a 58-year-old man, who lives with his parents in the small town about 20 kilometres from Montbéliard, was arrested and taken into custody.
During a search of his home, investigators “found no fewer than 94 pairs of women’s underwear in all colours”, the magistrate said. The woman who alerted the gendarmerie was reportedly “taken aback” and identified two of the items as belonging to her, he added.
After initially claiming he had bought the lingerie himself, the suspect admitted to the thefts. He reportedly told officers: “I did something stupid. I don’t know why I did it.”
Single and unemployed, the man is known in the village as “a bit strange”, someone who “hung around” and committed “various petty thefts,” 20 Minutes reported.
“He apparently has a bit of a fetish for women’s underwear”, but “his profile is not a cause for concern”; he is “not known for violence or sexual offences”, the deputy prosecutor said. The suspect, who has no criminal record, will be summoned before a prosecutor’s representative for an alternative penalty procedure.
He will be required to compensate the victim for damage caused to her door and to complete a citizenship course, as per 20 Minutes. The Doubs gendarmerie has launched an appeal for witnesses (+33 3 81 92 72 70) to identify the victims of the underwear thefts and return the items to their owners.
This type of behaviour is most commonly discussed by clinicians in terms of fetishistic disorder, a condition in which someone experiences persistent sexual arousal linked to particular objects, including items of clothing such as underwear, according to the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders).
Experts reportedly stress that having a fetish does not automatically mean someone will commit a crime; offending is a separate behavioural choice.
In diagnostic terms, the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 refers to fetishistic disorder as intense sexual arousal from non-living objects, or a specific focus on non-genital body parts.
Some specialists also use phrases such as “fetishistic burglary” to describe cases where the act of stealing the item is part of the gratification, although this is more a descriptive label than a standalone diagnosis.
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