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DNA tests fail to solve French school rape case

No DNA from 539 male pupils and staff matched genetic material on the clothing of a teenage girl who said she was raped in a dark bathroom.

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French authorities say DNA testing of all male pupils and staff at a school has failed to identify the assailant who raped a teenage girl on the closed campus, reports The Guardian.

The mass test last month at the Fénelon Notre-Dame private school in La Rochelle, western France, raised concerns about privacy. Boys as young as 14 were among those tested.

La Rochelle prosecutor's office said in a statement on Thursday that the DNA samples from 539 students and staff will be destroyed. The samples were compared with genetic material recovered from the girl's clothing.

The prosecutor says the investigation is continuing into the rape, which the girl says happened in a dark bathroom.

Read more of this AP report published by The Guardian.