French prosecutors on Thursday, May 16, charged former minister Damien Abad with the attempted rape of one of three women who have accused him of sexual assault, according to sources close to the case.

The 44-year-old lawmaker for President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Renaissance party called the accusations "unfounded".

The attempted rape charge dates from a 2010 incident at a party he gave at his Paris home. The allegation was made by another lawmaker. Two other cases dating from 2010 and 2011 are still being investigated.

In a statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Abad said he would prove "the unfounded nature of the accusations". He said he had "no doubt" he would be cleared in the other cases.

In May 2022 Abad was named solidarity minister with a portfolio to oversee policies toward the disabled.

But soon after the Mediapart investigative website carried testimonies from two women who said he had assaulted them in 2010 and 2011. Those reports led a third woman to come forward.

Parliament lifted his immunity and he was briefly arrested in June 2023 before being released as the investigation progressed. He was removed from the cabinet in July 2022.