The trial of a former French police officer for the rape of two street children in the Philippines opened Monday in southeastern France, with the accused declaring himself "guilty" from the outset.

Julien Palisca, now 46 and in pre-trial detention for four years, was a police officer with the Marseille juvenile protection unit (southeast). He is also appearing in court for possession of some 3,000 child pornography images and videos.

"I admit my guilt," he declared without hesitation at the opening of his trial before the criminal court of Aix-en-Provence (southeast), scheduled to last until Thursday.

The hearings will be public, as requested by the five child protection associations, civil parties.

The two victims, two Filipino brothers who were street children in Manila, filed a civil suit on Monday. At the request of their lawyer, Julie Bolo-Jolly, a partially closed hearing will be requested for their hearing on Wednesday morning from their home country.

Aged 12 and 15 at the time of the events in September 2018, they are expected to give their statements via videoconference, the eldest from a prison where he is incarcerated, his brother from the French embassy.

They were interviewed during the investigation, confirming the allegations of rape and sexual assault. "This is one of the first times that victims abroad have been heard by a criminal court," Bolo-Jolly told AFP.

For the trial, the thread was able to be reconnected with them via educators from the International Justice Mission association.

The case began in Marseille with a report from the director of a home where a 17-year-old boy, a rape victim, was receiving biased messages from the police officer, who was then in charge of his investigation.

Then, one thing led to another, the path of sex tourism emerged for this man, who appeared above all suspicion, who went to the Philippines every year, having become president of the French branch of an institution working for the protection and integration of street children in Manila.

Mr. Palisca's personality, which a psychological expert said suffers from Peter Pan syndrome, a kind of rejection of adulthood and immaturity, was to be at the heart of the trial starting Monday with the personality investigator and a psychiatric expert.