The Outreau pedophile ring trial began on May 4 and drew extraordinary attention from the public and media. The atrocities that occurred in the small steel-milling town, located close to the border of Belgium sent shock waves throughout France and Europe. Hundreds were expected to testify, including numerous child psychologists, some of the children and all of those accused.

On the second day of the trial, Myriam Delay took the stand and stunned listeners when she testified how she raped her own children, as well as several others. She was quoted in a May 5, 2004, BBC article by the Agence France-Presse news agency saying, "It's so hard. I don't understand why I did what I did." However, her defense lawyer suggested in The Observer that the fact that her father raped her as a child and eventually sold her into marriage was a likely explanation for Myriam's behavior. According to BBC News, during her testimony she further described how her alcoholic husband, Theirry, also physically abused her, yet she never left because, "things had gone too far."

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The following week, Theirry Delay took the stand and admitted to sexually abusing his children. News article quoted Theirry saying that he beat and raped his four children approximately 2 to 3 times per week. According to the article, Theirry said that Myriam and their neighbors, David Delplanque and Aurélie Grenon, were also involved in the rapes, yet denied the involvement of the other 13 defendants. Moreover, he revealed little information concerning his involvement in the alleged rapes of the other children.

Theirry and Myriam's two oldest children also took the stand, yet gave contradictory accounts of those alleged to have been involved in the rapes. A May 17 Agence France Presse news agency article suggested that the Delays' oldest son, 14, confirmed most of the charges against some of the defendants, but denied the participation of several others of the accused. Yet, his 12-year-old brother contradicted some of his testimony, naming some of the defendants who his brother claimed were not involved. The conflicting statements led many to wonder whether there was a possibility that some of the defendants were wrongly accused or whether the facts were merely obscured by the boys' trauma.

By the end of the second week of the trial, confusion had spread throughout the courthouse. Most of the key witnesses had given contradictory accounts concerning who was actually involved in the rapes. Myriam implicated all of the defendants, whereas Theirry claimed that only four were responsible for the rapes. The trial became even more perplexing with their children's inconsistent testimony. The confusion did not end there.