David, 8, was tortured and drowned in a bathtub in Saint-Herblain, near Nantes -

J. Urbach / 20 Minutes

  • This Friday, the mother and stepfather of David, 8, were sentenced to 28 years in prison.

  • They had been on trial since Monday for acts of torture and barbarism resulting in the death of the little boy, without intention of giving it.

The verdict fell this Friday evening.

The Loire-Atlantique Assize Court has just condemned David's mother and father-in-law, this little boy who was abused and drowned, feet and hands tied, in a bathtub in Saint-Herblain, to 28 years of criminal imprisonment .

The court also pronounced the withdrawal of parental authority of Eunice K., 29 years old and Guy-Roland D., 35 years old, on their two and five other respective children, including a little boy born of their union.

The sentence, in accordance with the requisitions of the Advocate General, comes after five trying days of a trial which ultimately failed to shed light on the exact circumstances in which the 8-year-old boy died, today. there in the family apartment located near Nantes.

“One may have acted more or less for a longer or shorter time” but they are both guilty of one as the other, said lawyer general Véronique Surel.

The defendants are blaming themselves

Accused of acts of torture and barbarism that resulted in his death without intention of giving it away, they recognized regular violence, since they had brought David back from Ivory Coast where he had grown up, while continuing to reject himself mutually responsible for the mortal punishment of the tub.

"We cannot do what we want with our children, no they are not objects of torture, no we do not hide our children behind walls, they must know that abusing parents", responded Me Myriam Guedj Benayoun who represents Innocence in danger, one of the civil party associations at the trial.

In the box of the accused, the mother felt uneasy when the verdict was announced.

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Mother and stepfather blame each other

Justice

Child tortured and drowned near Nantes: "David did not love me, he challenged me", tells the father-in-law

  • Infanticide

  • Nantes

  • Abuse

  • Assize Court