A certain tension is diffused in the courtroom, even before the arrival of the defendant in the box of the defendants. On November 10 at the Nanterre court, one of the plaintiffs refused to sit on the bench of the civil parties, in front of the man to appear. She wouldn’t want to have to meet his gaze. But this one is nobody other than his own father. Atmosphere. The explanation lies in the charges brought against this 55-year-old man: usual violence against spouses, violence against minors and above all incestuous sexual assault on minors under 15 and on minors over 15 years. Facts which would have been committed several times between 2015 and 2021.
Everything will start from a complaint lodged by the defendant’s wife at the Puteaux police station last spring. During his hearings – not exceeding “The hour of freedom” available to her then – Mrs. K. will denounce the ancestry and the repeated violence she allegedly suffered since 2002 [le prévenu ne sera poursuivi que pour les faits non prescrits] from her husband. She will also evoke the sexual assault perpetrated on her son of a dozen years in the marital bed by her husband. Also heard by the investigators, the two daughters of this father of four children will not fail to describe a man treating his wife and his offspring like his servants and having the most equivocal gestures and glances with them.
“In the report of the hearing, are mentioned belt blows … Can you tell us? “, will ask the president of the court to the mother of the family at the bar. “We were at the fireworks display on July 14th. The noise made my daughter cry. He then told me that it was my fault, that it was I who had wanted to go out. We got home and then he kicked me with his belt ”. A ” punishment “ which will happen again, according to him. And when the accused keeps his whip around his waist, it is the slaps that rain, for trivial reasons, but even more obvious of the total control that this father intended to keep over his family.
Madame will say that she received slaps for signing her son’s correspondence book, without informing her, or for having cut her boy’s hair, again without authorization. Differences in the education of children are also triggers of violence. “This woman, she’s lying! will accuse the accused. I’m a little tough at home, but I’m the one who brings the money back ”. Because since her arrival in France from Algeria in 2000, and while she was on the other side of the Mediterranean her employee, Mrs. K. will have received the ban from her husband to hold a job.
“I wanted to be a nursery assistant, she will tell at the bar. But if I had had a payslip, he would have considered me equal to him… ”. From his speaking at the hearing, it will show the financial hold that the defendant could exercise over her. “I have no money, I have to ask him everything but it’s complicated. It’s as if I had to file an administrative file, even to buy milk or vegetables ”. Because if the family allowances are paid into her account, it is her husband who will keep his bank card. A card, which will also be found on him during his search by the police on the day of his arrest.
“We use the checkbook a lot, the man will defend himself. Look at the account statements, she does the shopping. Me, I stay at the cafe, she buys what she wants “. The president then raises his wife to the bar, and asks for confirmation: ” No. For him, a good Muslim is like a slave ”. “And is he a good Muslim?”, then questions the magistrate, who struggles to understand the alcohol consumption of the accused, diabetic. He drinks… Is it allowed in the Koran? “. “It depends on the quantity”, replied Mrs. K., who intends to divorce to protect her children from their father.
Children, who tell in their depositions the regular denigration of their father towards their mother, treated just as much ” female dog “, from “Devil’s daughter” or from ” crazy “, because she wouldn’t have put the dishes away. The man denies it: “They are being manipulated my children, by the lady who wants to keep me away from the house!” “. For him, his wife would not be the same since the death of his mother: “She took a 90 ° turn, I feel abandoned … I get angry from time to time but I’m not sick”.
“One of your daughters says that one day you took your shoe and hit the ground with it as if to crush something, telling her that is how you treated her mother., will report to the session chair. “I do what I want with her, I am the master, the God on Earth” you would have said… Why would she tell this, your daughter? “. “It’s a feeling, to help his mother”, will argue the defendant, who will end up admitting to having already “Pushed” his partner, and have already raised a hand on her, but before the birth of her children. However, he will not fail to pose as the victim of a companion who “Did not play its role”, “That of taking care of her husband”.
“The least of things is that she asks me about my state of health, if I took my medication… She didn’t even give me a special diet for my diabetes!, he will deplore, before showing himself to be so cheeky as to make the court laugh yellow. This woman, she gives you spinach without sauce, it is inedible! They take better care of me in prison… ”.
Yet the man seemed to have a comfortable life at home, according to his children. “Your son says that you are the pasha at home, that he must bring you any object at the risk of being called a dog, a donkey or a fool…? “, will remark the president of the tribunal. “Every time I say: ‘please’, he will assure, swearing not to abuse his son. He has no bruises, there were no reports at school! “.
That said, it is above all for another type of violence perpetrated on his elder brother that the accused was prosecuted. Because one night when the child would have come to sleep in the parental bed, being afraid of the dark, his father would have taken advantage of him during his sleep. “One evening I felt something rub, move in the bed, will tell the mother at the bar. I turned around and saw him withdraw my son’s hand which was resting on his penis ». The child will also reveal to the investigators that on several occasions, his father will have touched him the belly, before trying to put his hand in his underwear.
“It’s not true ma’am, I never thought of doing that, will affirm the defendant without raising his voice, before accusing his companion. It’s a lie, a manipulation of this manipulator! “. “It’s totally inconsistent, his lawyer will claim. Monsieur is not at all homosexual and had a normal intimate life with his wife until their breakup. And then, the words that [son fils] employs in auditions are not those of a ten-year-old! “.
In a long argument, the accused’s counsel will endeavor to mitigate the consequences of “The patriarchal conception” of his client, “Close to that of France in the 1950s”, where we saw a “Certain legitimacy to the physical sanction”. He will especially urge the court to rule out any conviction for sexual assault: “It would then be a man branded with a hot iron!” We know what happens to men with a mention for sexual assault in the record ”.
“I also have a problem with the prevention of sexual assault on girls, he will insist. It wasn’t about caresses on an erogenous zone, but more pats on the buttocks as encouragement, like “go chicks!”. It was a gesture of tenderness, not to make people uncomfortable ”. What convince the court, which will clear the man of these accusations. Convicted for the rest, he will receive fifteen months in prison, including twelve suspended sentences, from a ban on contact with his wife and children. [avant décision du juge aux affaires familiales] and a withdrawal of parental authority. On the other hand, it will escape registration in the register of sex offenders.
CREDIT DRAWINGS: DR
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