French prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into a prominent cinema and stage actor after his daughter accused him of incestuous sexual abuse while she was in her mid-teens, reports FRANCE 24.
Richard Berry, who has starred in successful theatre productions and films in a career spanning half a century, is accused in a complaint by his daughter Coline of raping and sexually abusing her when she was 15, prosecutors said.
In a statement on his social media channels, Berry, 70, vehemently denied the allegations.
But Paris prosecutors said Wednesday that an investigation had been opened against him on January 25 following his daughter's accusations.
The allegations come after France's intellectual elite was rocked last month by an accusation that a top political expert and commentator, Olivier Duhamel, sexually abused his stepson.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into Duhamel after the claims made in a new book by his stepdaughter Camille Kouchner, the sister of the alleged victim. Duhamel has denied the allegations but stepped down from his various academic posts.