The North Assize Court on Friday (January 20th) sentenced four people to 10 to 20 years' imprisonment for torturing and almost beating to death for two weeks a two-year-old child, whose mother was sentenced to four years in prison for lack of protection.
Considered the "
leader
" of the group, the main defendant, convicted of "
acts of torture and barbarity
" was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment with a two-thirds security sentence, and a socio-judicial follow-up of 10 years.
The Court thus followed the requisitions of the general prosecutor's office.
"Unheard-of violence"
This man, to whom the little boy had been entrusted by his mother in Auberchicourt (North), in December 2018, "
prompted
" the dynamics of "
unheard of violence, exercised free of charge
" on him for 15 days, had pointed out the lawyer general.
During alcoholic evenings involving the defendants to varying degrees, the child had notably been tied up with scotch tape, used “
like a football
”, trampled on, pushed down the stairs or deprived of sleep.
The companion of this man, also tried for acts of torture, was sentenced to 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a socio-judicial follow-up of five years.
The couple is completely deprived of parental authority over their five daughters.
At the statement of this verdict, the woman collapsed in the box in tears.
Two other men, distant relatives who had participated in the torture, were sentenced to 12 and 10 years' imprisonment.
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The mother, accused in particular of not having denounced the violence and of not having had the child treated immediately after recovering it, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, a sentence which could be adjusted.
She is deprived of parental authority over her two sons.
The Advocate General had in her case demanded six years in prison, with a warrant of committal.
A last relative was sentenced to four years in prison, two of which were suspended for "
non-assistance
" to this child in danger.
Now seven years old, he suffers from significant neurological and psychological sequelae, according to his lawyer, Me Alain Reisenthel.
“
It took him a year to learn what a smile was, two years to relearn how to walk.
“Hospitalized on December 18, he had been placed in an artificial coma, suffering from a serious cranial trauma, numerous hematomas and fractures of the pelvis and tibia.