Deprivation of food, sleep and even going to the toilet: the Assize Court of Yonne condemned Thursday, October 15 to 12 years of criminal imprisonment the stepmother of a six-year-old girl, and to 8 years his father, for “
torture and barbarism
”.
Read also: Nancy: 30 years in prison for a mother convicted of a double infanticide
The jurors recognized the stepmother, Nadège Cousin, and the father, Sirile Blanchet, both guilty of “
usual violence
”, from 2015 to 2018, and “
acts of torture and barbarism
”, in April 2018, on the nine-year-old girl.
The sentence is lower than the requisitions of the prosecution, which had requested 14 years for Nadège Cousin and 12 for the father.
"
Tied up, gagged, deprived of sleep, deprived of going to the bathroom and of food
"
The girl, six and a half years old at the time of the facts, "
was tied up, gagged, deprived of sleep, deprived of going to the toilet and of food
", criticized Advocate General Pierrick Giangualano in his requisitions.
She owed her "
survival
" only to the school canteen;
she was tied for two hours with her arms in the air, on tiptoes;
she was "
insulted, deprived of games and speech,
" listed the attorney general.
To read also: Millau: a teenager admits to having stabbed his stepmother to death
The father recognized "
the scarf placed at the back of her mouth so that she does not cry
", the showers "
once a week
" and "
the dog leash with which she was shackled on the bunk bed.
".
Denouncing the “
criminal perversity
” of Nadège Cousin, the main accused, the public prosecutor portrayed a “
tyrannical
” and “
cold
” woman, who remained completely impassive when the verdict was announced.
"
I have a lot of remorse,
" she had nevertheless whispered at the end of the trial.
As for the father, he acted "out of
love
" for his companion, but was nonetheless "
active
", "
approving
" even, according to the Advocate General.
Julien Lewden, lawyer for Nadège Cousin, on the other hand denounced the "
failure
" of social services which had already placed the girl in 2015 but without intervening thereafter, despite "
recurring alerts
".
Michèle Duffaut, lawyer for Sirile Blanchet, wanted to describe a "
good father
", "
terribly immature and completely submissive
", who fell "
under the thumb
" of his new companion.
He "
let it happen but he had no intention of
", assured the lawyer.
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