REFILE-Vatican envoy to France investigated over sex assault allegations -Paris city hall

France has opened an investigation into allegations that Pope Francis's envoy molested a junior official in Paris' City Hall, a City Hall official said on Friday.

The official told Reuters that Archbishop Luigi Ventura, 74, who has held the post in Paris for the past decade, was suspected of having touched the buttocks of the male junior staffer during Mayor Anne Hidalgo's New Year address. Ventura "caressed in an insistent and repeated manner the young man's buttocks during the ceremony. He put his hands on his buttocks several times," the City Hall official said.

A judicial source confirmed a preliminary investigation against Ventura was underway. The Vatican did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Simon Carraud Writing by Richard Lough Editing by Mark Heinrich)