Death of Tony, three years old: the trial of violence and silence opens Monday in Reims

Four years after the death of little Tony under the repeated blows of his stepfather, his mother and his ex-companion appear at the assizes in Reims, from Monday and until Thursday.

The trial was postponed last year in the midst of a strike by lawyers.

Five associations for the protection of children have formed civil parties to denounce the silence that cost Tony his life.

The little boy died at the age of three and a half after a family lockdown of violence that no one had sought to interrupt.

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Because no one protected Tony.

Starting with his mother.

She witnessed the humiliations and beatings that her new companion inflicted on the three-year-old boy, without intervening.

The young woman, who says she is afraid of her ex-spouse, did nothing to save her son.

Not even to run away.

And then there is the silence of those close to the couple.

A friend sees Tony's bruises, but doesn't say anything.

Just like some neighbors.

Not to mention the inaction of the school in the face of the repeated absences of the little boy.

"Double suffering"

As for the paternal family, they say they were kept away from Tony.

"There is no problem until the arrival of the new companion, until all contact is completely lost. We are still today to reconstruct this story", laments Olivier Chalot, the lawyer of the Tony's father and grandmother, civil parties to the lawsuit.

"It's a double suffering: that of having been powerless to stop what happened, and that of having to relive the suffering of his boy, of his grandson."

Tony's stepfather is being sued for willful violence resulting in death and faces 30 years in prison.

For not having denounced him and for having warned the emergency services too late, the mother of the little boy risks 5 years in prison.