The trial of six adults, accused in particular of “acts of torture and barbarism”, opened on Monday at the sessions in Douai (North). Entrusted to friends of his parents in 2018, the then two-year-old boy suffered an unprecedented outburst of violence for two weeks.
A two-year-old boy experienced the unbearable and unspeakable for two weeks in 2018 when he was fostered by friends of his parents. He was still a child when he was beaten, almost to death, at Auberchicourt in the North.
The trial of the six people accused of committing these acts opened on Monday at the Douai Assizes Court. Some are prosecuted for “acts of torture and barbarism” and others for failing to intervene.
The main defendant appeared hunched over in the box, a black eye after being beaten in jail, according to his attorney. Beside him, his mate stares at the ground. Both tried for “acts of torture and barbarism”, with two other men.
Admitted to hospital and placed in an artificial coma
The child’s mother is suspected of having witnessed some episodes of violence against her son. She is prosecuted for “failed to report” crimes and ill-treatment, deprivation of care, but also for regular violence against her two children. She looks free. A last relative is judged for having neither denounced nor prevented the crimes.
The abuses suffered by the young man occurred in particular during alcoholic evenings with relatives. Admitted to hospital on December 18, 2018, he was quickly placed in an artificial coma, to try to ensure the continuity of his vital functions. At this moment, he presents a serious head trauma, numerous hematomas and lesions, and fractures of the pelvis and tibia.
The boy’s lawyer, Alain Reisenthel, assures that the boy, who is now seven years old, suffers from “significant neurological and psychological sequelae”.
Trampled, deprived of sleep, used like a balloon
The three men who appear are particularly suspected of using it “like a soccer ball”, which they kicked each other. The child was reportedly bound with duct tape, trampled, pushed down stairs and deprived of sleep. The survey indicates a “group effect” in this “escalation of violence”, against a background of alcohol and high social and emotional insecurity. The six defendants were aged between 22 and 29 at the time.
The main defendant admitted during the investigation his preponderant role, and less serious previous violence, in particular referring to his excessive alcohol consumption. According to him, the overwhelmed mother had entrusted her son to him to “calm him down”. With his partner they are also tried for regular violence against their daughters. In Lot, where they previously lived, they had been reported to social services.
