The Angoulême court on Tuesday sentenced a 39-year-old mother to 18 months in prison, twelve of which were suspended, for “abandonment of a minor compromising their safety”. reports Free Charente. The six-month sentence was enhanced by wearing an electronic bracelet.
She was found guilty of having left her nine-year-old boy almost to his own devices for almost two years, between 2020 and 2022, in a HLM apartment in Nersac (Charente), while she lived with her partner. 5 km from there, in Sireuil.
She came to see him from time to time, and sometimes brought him food. The rest of the time, the child had to fend for himself, subsisting on cakes and cans. Sometimes he had to wash himself in cold water.
Duty of care
It was the neighbors who ended up raising the alarm, prompting the opening of a gendarmerie investigation. She notably demonstrated that the mother never took her son to school, even though he was in CM2 and then sixth grade. In the school environment, no one noticed anything, the child being a rather good student.
Since then, he has been placed with a foster family. He confirmed the elements of the gendarmerie investigation, specifying that he had first lived with his older brother, then alone. Since then, he no longer wants to see his mother. She was also sentenced to an obligation of care.