Traumatic lesions resulting from the so-called “
shaken baby
” syndrome , traces of violence, reports to the Samu Social… So many warning signs that will not have been enough to save the life of an abused child.
The "
case
" of little Youssef is one of those heartbreaking dramas which one wants to believe could have been avoided.
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This Tuesday, January 18 and for three days, opens before the assizes of Seine-Saint-Denis, in Bobigny, the trial of Youssef's mother, accused of "
deadly violence
" in 2019. For
L'Enfant Bleu-Enfance Abused,
the only association to have filed a civil action, it is essential that this trial “
challenges the measures that would make it possible to avoid as much as possible that such tragedies occur again.
Because of the repeated violence of his mother, Youssef only survived 146 days.
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It all started in December 2018. Arrived from Spain, alone, eight months pregnant and without speaking French, Nina* was cared for and hosted by the Samu social in several hotels in Seine-Saint-Denis, in conditions more than precarious.
On February 5, 2019, the young woman gave birth at the Jean Verdier hospital in Bondy to a child suffering from muscular hypotonia.
No educational help or follow-up
Despite her isolation, the precariousness in which she lives but above all the diagnosis made on her baby, the young mother leaves the maternity ward like an ordinary patient, without any educational aid or follow-up being offered to her by the services of child welfare.
"
We let a mother who barely speaks French go back into the wild with an infant in a fragile state of health, and that doesn't seem to shock anyone?
It's incomprehensible
, ”laments Laurence Micallef-Napoly, lawyer for the
Blue Child
at trial.
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In the weeks following the birth, the receptionist of a social hotel in Sevran - where Nina and little Youssef are staying - made several reports to the Samu Social reservation operator, to report the violent behavior of mother and repeated neglect of her son. The latter also indicates that the mother would regularly leave her newborn baby alone in the 10 square meter bedroom they share. A handbook of intervention will mention the displacement of the police for these facts without this ever leading to any measure, apart from the change of accommodation of the mother and her child.
“Some parents find themselves with educational measures on their backs when they have nothing to reproach themselves for, in particular in cases of brittle bone disease, and here it is quite the opposite.
There is a complete lack of interest in this child.
This kid is a ghost!
»
Laurence Micallef-Napoly, civil party lawyer for L'Enfant Bleu at trial.
In a press release on the case sent to
Le Figaro
,
L'Enfant Bleu
says he wonders "
about the existence and effectiveness of alert procedures within the Samu social, a structure that nevertheless specializes in the care of vulnerable populations. .
And Me Micallef-Napoly added: "
Even if they [Le Samu social] did not have the structure or the time to make a report, they could at least have called 119.
" been brought against the Samu social de Paris.
Committed vital prognosis
On June 20, 2019, firefighters were urgently called by a passerby at the entrance to the
Saint-Ouen
metro station in Paris.
Little Youssef, then four months old, had just fallen down the stairs.
His mother explains that after having detached the cozy from the stroller to go down the stairs leading to the metro, she tripped, dragging her son, who was not himself attached, in her fall.
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The child was immediately taken to the Necker hospital where the doctors noted injuries prior to the accident, in particular numerous bruises.
The examinations also revealed several lesions in the brain.
The vital prognosis of the baby is engaged.
The latter finally died in hospital on June 30, 2019 from the consequences of injuries resulting from the so-called “
shaken baby
” syndrome .
Diagnosed with schizophrenia
During her hearings, Nina admits having committed acts of abuse against her child.
The psychiatric expertise will bring to light a woman with a complex personality.
Subject to depression, plagued by psychiatric problems and a drug user, the young woman would also have been diagnosed with schizophrenia in Spain, according to her mother.
“
How did the Jean-Verdier maternity hospital and the various emergency services, for none of them, succeed in detecting such a disorder?
I can't understand
, ”wonders Me Micallef-Napoly.
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At the end of her police custody, Nina is indicted for "
violence having caused death without intention to give it to a minor under the age of 15 by an ascendant or a person having authority over the victim
" and imprisoned in the awaiting trial.
For these facts, she faces 30 years of criminal imprisonment.
For better training of health professionals
In addition to the responsibility of the Samu social and maternity in the care of the mother and her infant pointed out by
L'Enfant Bleu
, the association also warns of the shortcomings in the training of health professionals in the detection of abuse. infant. As proof, the conclusions of the experts appointed by the examining magistrate who highlight, from Youssef's medical file, two episodes of violent shaking.
However, between his birth in February 2019 and his death in June 2019, the infant was examined twice by doctors in the pediatric emergency room for vomiting and hospitalized at the Robert Debré hospital for weight loss.
“
These seemingly mild symptoms could have worried the nursing staff, if they had had the opportunity to benefit from extensive training in the symptomatology of abuse committed on infants and particularly on that of shaken babies.
Nevertheless, no report will be made by the medical teams following these passages
”, regrets the association.
*Name has been changed