In Eure, the father who shook his 2-month-old baby will go to prison

“It’s a miracle baby,” notes Christelle Beauvalet, the lawyer for Avede-ACJE, the association which helps victims of violence. Alizée* had barely 2 months when she was shaken by her fatheron the evening of October 1, 2024in Marcilly-sur-Eure.

Shaken baby syndrome

It's a couple of neighbors who witness the scene through their kitchen window. He sees the father pick up the infant, shake it and put it back down violently in the cradle before taking it back to repeat the shaking at least three times. The first instinct of witnesses is to call the firefighters who bring in the police in the loop. Emergency services intervene quickly and the baby is taken to the pediatric emergency room in an alarming state. Alizée has eye asymmetry and is unable to stay awake, characteristic symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.

The father, a 40-year-old man, is taken into police custody. At first, he denied the facts. Then he admits that, shortly before midnight, having difficulty sleeping, he heard the infant “whimper” and “grabbed him under the arms and shook him” while asking him: “Why aren't you sleeping?” », before putting his pacifier in his mouth. That’s when the baby stopped crying and “turned blue.” Having become frightened, the father then shook him again at arm's length. “Not violent” movements, he then told the police.

He has already lost a child this way

In court, the forty-year-old returns to his comments made in police custody and belies the first series of shakes on his daughter. “I got up at midnight because my daughter was crying. Tired, I quickly got her out of bed and took her in my arms. Once I put his pacifier in his mouth, it turned blue. That's when I had the urge to shake her. » The child “falling back to sleep peacefully”, the father went to bed as if nothing had happened, before receiving a surprise visit from the gendarmes.

If the version diverges from the one noted in black and white in the deposition, it is because he “signed it without having read it”. “After 48 hours in police custody, with fatigue, the gendarmes make you say what they want,” he says. Deputy prosecutor Thomas Lopez is surprised and calls on the defendant to “take responsibility”.

To the facts, already particularly sordid, is added the context of cannabis and alcohol consumption in large quantities as well as the defendant's record (fourteen mentions) which, in themselves, could justify placement in a foster family for the infant. Above all, the unworthy father is particularly informed about shaken baby syndrome. His ex-wife will appear at the Assizes January 20 for the death of their baby in the same circumstancesin Eure-et-Loir. The forty-year-old will have to answer for failure to assist anyone in danger in this matter.

The worry persists

If Alizée is alive today, it is surely thanks to the intervention of the neighbors who witnessed the scene, insists the lawyer from the victims' assistance association.

She has no after-effects and no disability to date. But we are always worried about the future in this type of case. New lesions may appear until adulthood.

“We will only know the neurological consequences in several years,” adds the deputy prosecutor, who recalls that the case could have ended before the Assize Court.

Me Mehdi Mokhtari, lawyer for the defendant, tries to get the court to question how the events unfolded. “Did he shake the baby after he turned blue, to save him, or did he shake him and then he turned blue? » The presiding judge Juliette Demaldent, based on the depositions and the medical findings, leans towards the second option. The father is sentenced to 36 months in prisonincluding 18 suspended sentences. A six-month reprieve is also revoked. The man will be incarcerated after appearing before the Assize Court in connection with the other shaken baby case. He will also have to pay €4,000 to the child for the physical and moral suffering caused.

* Assumed first name The convictions at first instance are not final since they are subject to appeal. Until the final conviction, the defendants are therefore always presumed innocent.

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