Mass DNA test of French teens fails to find rapist

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PARIS (AP) — French authorities say that mass DNA testing of the entire male population of a French high school failed to find the assailant who raped a teenage girl on the closed campus.

The mass test last month at the Fenelon-Notre Dame high school in western France raised concerns about privacy rights, especially for children. Boys as young as 14 were among those tested. No one refused to participate.

The La Rochelle prosecutor's office said in a statement 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.