Social misery at the heart of the trial for acts of barbarism against a 2-year-old child

A half-sister who refuses to testify, a sobbing mother… The first day of the trial for acts of barbarism against a 2.5-year-old child brought its share of sordid family stories, but also triggered an unusual bang .

Six defendants appear, since Monday and until January 24, before the North Assize Court, in Douai after the discovery, in December 2018, of multiple fractures and injuries on little Joris *. The investigation will show that the child had suffered a real ordeal within a surrogate family.

Violent refusal to testify

At the heart of this case, the personality of Sébastien B., lover of the mother of little Joris, and one of the main defendants. He had hosted the child for two weeks, with his wife Coraline R., in Auberchicourt.

The first morning was therefore punctuated by a singular episode: the violent refusal to testify on the part of a half-sister of Sébastien B.. Brought by force to court, the young girl resisted the police who ended up evacuate, at the request of President Sylvie Karas. “I hope you will pay. And you, fat p…, did you see what you did to my brother? “, she exclaimed, before leaving.

This violent crisis and the virulence of the comments sent to the dock speaks volumes about the deleterious and miserable atmosphere that surrounds the family, more broken than recomposed, of Sébastien B..

Assaulted in jail

Short hair, swollen face and two coquards under the eyes, the young man of 33 years is struggling to express himself. On Saturday, he was assaulted in prison. “An assault because of this affair”, testified another of his half-sisters who pleads in his favor. “He was always there to help. She recounts their childhood, the men who followed one another at home, all as violent and alcoholic as each other. “I would like to forget all that,” she slips.

“He lived a terrible childhood, as I have rarely seen”, sums up the personality investigator who speaks of a mother who cannot read or write and who accepts the various abuses towards her “painkiller” son. Until the sexual assaults when he was a baby.

“It was built in a context of violence, further specifies the investigator. He had no reference point, no anchor point. He is emotionally withered. Moreover, the accused does not even remember the date of birth of his daughters. “Did the people you met talk to you about feelings, about love? “, asks him then Me Loïc Bussy, the lawyer of Sébastien B.. “Nobody”, answers the investigator.

An unstable life, where adultery reigns

An unstable life ensues, where adultery reigns, without a real job and visibly under the influence of his wife, Coraline R., also accused of acts of torture. The reports against the couple are piling up about already ill-treatment of the daughters of Sébastien B., but the social services come up against successive moves. “It’s hard to find you!” “, blames the president.

Until the day when the mother of Joris *, also accused of violence, decides to go to the hospital, on December 18, 2018, to have the child examined. The mistreatment and humiliation suffered by Sébastien B. during his youth then finds a terrible echo. The investigation will determine unspeakable violence. The child, considered turbulent and described as an “electric battery”, served as a stress relief. He was tied up, beaten, humiliated, used as a soccer ball…

The next few days, the court must examine the personality of the other five defendants. With, always, social misery as a backdrop.

* Assumed first name

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