The criminal chamber of the Belfort judicial court sentenced a 45-year-old Giromagnien to four years in prison, including two years with a deferred committal warrant and two years with a probationary suspension of 2 years. He was found guilty of sexual assault on his daughter between 2013 and 2020. The facts began after the separation of the parents followed by the loss of parental rights for the mother. This man regained custody of his two children. “I needed an emotional connection,” admits the defendant. “She wouldn’t say no, so I continued. She was then still 6 and 7 years old. »
A cushion pressed against her
The child who refuses to be “touched” had gotten into the habit of hugging a cushion against her, to fight against the father's attacks. Wasted effort. “You realize that it was a girl’s body that you were touching,” asks president Odile Desmazieres. In response, the father fully admitted the facts and apologized. “At first,” says the daughter, now a young adult, “I thought it was normal. That all dads did that. However, I realized that something was wrong. »
A traumatized girl
The sexual assaults stopped in November 2020 when the victim joined the defense cadets. Simply because the forty-year-old is afraid of being discovered. However, the damage was done. The girl is traumatized. She scarified her arm. She had nightmares. She no longer has respect for her body. She ran away twice because she no longer felt safe at her father's house. But she didn't file a complaint right away. “I was afraid of not being believed. »
More contact with his daughter
The prosecutor's attorney, Cindy Bernard, considered that this father locked his daughter in a trap from which she was unable to escape. “This child was in a state of astonishment at her father’s pedophile behavior. » She requested a mixed sentence of 5 years, including three years. Disproportionate requisitions for Me Amélie Baumont who considered that the court should take into consideration her client's confessions. “He spoke to free himself and his daughter,” she adds. “Prison is not the solution. My client is not dangerous and incarceration would put an end to his psychological follow-up.”
Visits prohibited
The court reduced the public prosecutor's requisitions but sent the defendant to the remand center. He received a five-year ineligibility, a ban on contact with his daughter and his unborn grandchild. He is prohibited from coming to his home. He will have to pay 10,000 euros in damages to his daughter.
