In this case, it is “word against word”.
But something unusual, these words should be able to be heard within the confines of the criminal court with the broadcast of a recording.
And it is precisely to be able to disseminate this one that was postponed, this Wednesday, the trial of a woman for acts of violence against children, at the request of Claire Rozelle, lawyer for the civil parties.
The defendant, without a criminal record, is the deputy head of the Montessori school in Val-de-Marne, located in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.
The hearing will finally be held on September 22.
Read alsoAt the trial of a Montessori school principal, naps in the toilets, cold and recreational meals at 0 ° C
Five children are civil parties in this case, for facts located between 2014 and 2018, over periods of a few months each time.
The accused is accused of acts of violence that did not result in ITT on the children concerned.
"Howls", "humiliations", "beatings", according to testimonies.
A "problematic attitude with children", summarizes Master Rozelle.
As many elements that it “disputes”, affirms its lawyer, Maître Laurent Hazan, who regretted the request for referral made on Wednesday by the opposing party “because everyone was there”.
Debate about the recording made by a schoolgirl
"It is a file which needs time, and the recording is the cornerstone", affirmed opposite Maître Claire Rozelle. Amazingly, it was made by a child. A CM1 student at the time, who alerted her mother about her daily life in this school run by an association, which operates independently. “One day she said to us:
But how can you let me go to this school?
, tells this one. And it started like that. "
In fact, this case takes root in 2017 after a complaint for sexual assault of a child on another, closed without follow-up. “It highlighted the lack of supervision within the establishment,” assures the lawyer. The child victim explains that he no longer wants to go. A second complaint is filed following the recording made by Margaux
(the first name has been changed)
, to which we did not have access. It was done using a recording pen in the canteen, time of day with which the defendant was then charged.
"It's a canteen hour, a recording in which you don't hear much", defends Maître Laurent Hazan.
When the civil party, on the contrary, insists that it be “broadcast at the hearing so that we can see the noise level”.
The prosecutor said for her part that she did not perceive what this broadcast "would change".
The court ruled.
"In this case, there is no serious material element"
“When I think back to what I heard in this recording, it makes me sick,” assures this mother whose little boy is a civil party at the trial. I had never been in contact with so much wickedness. "We hear him treat children of pigs, tell a little boy that if his mother cries it's his fault, offer an ice cream to another before saying to him: no you won't have any", details Master Rozelle. "And again, there was only one recording, only once", slips the lawyer. A second time in this case, the complaint is closed.
But a few months later, an investigation reopens on the same bases after Claire Rozelle requested the criminal documents making up this case. This mother attributes it to the fact that an investigation "has finally been carried out". When Master Hazan said to himself "very surprised at the way in which this investigation was carried out". "I am very serene because I am used to this kind of cases", assures this lawyer who is also that of the rectorate of Paris. "In this case there is no serious material element, assures the council. We are talking about three students out of 120
(Editor's note: there are five civil parties)
who are now between 6 and 12 years old, for facts dating back more than three years. The children were not assessed. There are no witnesses, no prejudice. "
When several parents speak of a “lasting trauma” for their child. “One of them now suffers from a school phobia,” explains Maître Rozelle. He is out of school today. His parents enrolled him for a while in another Montessori school, which they had nothing to say about. “But this school was not Montessori, abounds this other mother. She shouts all the time: it's against these pedagogical principles. "During the second investigation, the deputy head explained that she could shout in the canteen" when there was too much hubbub ". The court will decide.
