LThe prosecutor, Jean-Claude Belot, did not request a sentence. On November 12, he left it “to the wisdom of the court”. Everyone expected an acquittal for this 54-year-old childminder, accused of having shaken Paul, the baby who had been entrusted to her. But on Tuesday, when it delivered its deliberations, the Bayonne judicial court declared the defendant guilty. He sentenced her to a two-year suspended prison sentence and a permanent ban on working as a childminder.
The facts judged date back to January 12, 2021. The professional looks after three children including Paul, 10 months old at the time. After the snack, the little one vomits. His eyes are rolled back, he is breathing hard. The nanny alerts the emergency services. From the Basque Coast Hospital Center, the child is transferred to an intensive care unit at the Bordeaux University Hospital. Very quickly, the episode took a legal turn: doctors in the pediatric department of Bayonne hospital noted worrying signs compatible with shaken baby syndrome: suspicious subdural hematomas, characteristic retinal hemorrhages. The prosecution is informed.
“A lie”
Since the first day of the investigation, the childminder has denied it. As she will do on the stand: “I didn’t shake him. » During the trial, the public prosecutor does not take the risk of deciding between two contradictory expert opinions. One questions the commission of a “violent” act to explain the injuries. The other says the exact opposite “with certainty” and targets a violent shaking at the origin of the head trauma.
It is a relief to see that justice is doing its job, in the face of the silence, for four years, of a person who endangered the life of my son
The court went to this second analysis. Emilie Hervelin, Paul’s mother, is there to hear the sentence. “It is a relief to see that justice is doing its job, in the face of the silence, for four years, of a person who endangered the life of my son. » In addition to the suspended prison sentence and the ban on working, the court sentences the childminder to pay 5,000 euros in damages to Paul. Likewise twice 3,000 euros to the parents, for damages of affection and anxiety.
At no time did the mother’s conviction waver, in the face of this woman whose long career had never suffered any setbacks. The first, more nuanced expertise? “It does not take into account retinal hemorrhage, although it is a symptom of a shaken baby.” Emilie Hervelin also refers to the disturbing “Google searches” since the maternal assistance was connected, after Paul left with the emergency services: “False shaken baby diagnosis”, “child brain hematoma”. The defendant attributed them to her husband. “A lie,” brushes off the mother. “I never doubted his guilt. »
Appel
Manuel Bousquet, the father of the young victim, had been “extremely surprised” by the prosecutor’s non-requisitions a month earlier. “We were worried about other similar cases occurring. » So he says he is “reassured” and “satisfied” with the decision at first instance. Because Me Emmanuel Zapirain, the defendant’s lawyer, indicates that an appeal will be filed “this afternoon”. Emilie Hervelin says she is calm: “There is no reason why, when faced with convincing evidence, we should not be reassured on appeal. »
We must not forget that in this case the investigating judge did not request the collegial expertise which could have decided between two contradictory expert opinions
Me Zapirain questions the procedure. “We must not forget that in this case the investigating judge did not request the collegial expertise which could have decided between two contradictory expert opinions. » Comments echoing those of Jean-Claude Belot to refrain from demanding.
Paul is now a little over 4 years old. He’s fine. At this stage of its development anyway. The doctors believe that it is not yet “consolidated”. The court also ordered monitoring of his health, with a “progress report” in one year.
