Police Fail to Protect Young Girl in France

法國警方未能保護小女孩

Jun 12, 2026, 16:34
EuropeSociety

Introduction

An 11-year-old girl died in Fleurance. Now, many people are angry. They say the police and the law did not protect her.

一名11歲女孩在 Fleurance 死亡。現在許多人感到憤怒，稱警方與法律未能保護她。

Main Body

A man named Jérôme Barella killed the girl. Police arrested him. But the police knew about him before. Nine months ago, a doctor said Barella hurt another child. The police did not ask him questions.

一名叫 Jérôme Barella 的男子殺害了該女孩。警方已將其逮捕。但警方此前就已知曉其情況。九個月前，一名醫生指出 Barella 傷害了另一名兒童，但警方當時並未對其進行詢問。

Also, the USA sent a warning about Barella in 2023. They said he had bad photos of children. The French government did not act on this warning.

此外，美國在 2023 年曾發出關於 Barella 的警告，稱他持有兒童的不雅照片。法國政府當時並未對該警告採取行動。

Now, police are looking at Barella's father and brother too. They may have hurt children. Many people in France want new laws to stop this.

目前，警方也在調查 Barella 的父親和哥哥。他們可能也傷害過兒童。法國許多民眾希望制定新法律以阻止此類事件發生。

Conclusion

The French government wants to change the laws. People are still very angry and they are protesting.

法國政府希望修改法律。但民眾依然非常憤怒且正在抗議。

Vocabulary Learning

🕒 Talking about the Past

In this story, most things already happened. To do this, we use a special form of the word.

The Rule: Just add -ed to the end of the action word.

  • Ask →\rightarrow Asked
  • Protect →\rightarrow Protected
  • Arrest →\rightarrow Arrested

Wait! Some words are 'rebels' and change completely:

  • Say →\rightarrow Said
  • Do →\rightarrow Did
  • Kill →\rightarrow Killed (follows the rule!)

Quick Example from the text: "The police did not act on this warning." \n*(When we use 'did not', the action word stays in its normal form. We don't add -ed here!)*

Vocabulary Learning

protect (v.)
To keep someone safe from harm
Example:The police must protect the people in the city.
arrested (v.)
When the police take someone to the station because they think they committed a crime
Example:The police arrested the man after the robbery.
warning (n.)
A statement that tells you about a possible danger
Example:The sign gave a warning that the road was slippery.
government (n.)
The group of people who control a country
Example:The government is making new laws about schools.
protesting (v.)
Showing that you disagree with something by shouting or marching in the street
Example:Many people are protesting against the new tax.
Practice A2 words in a crossword→