The best defense is attack. This Tuesday, November 26, Audrey Lehmann, director of the Epona home for placed children and adolescents in Fontaine, invited the press to a Belfort hotel. Accompanied by her lawyer, the much-publicized Alain Jakubowicz, and an impressive pile of documents dedicated to dismantling one by one the arguments of the departmental decree signed on September 30. The latter recorded the “permanent cessation of the activity of the Epona social children’s home” after a month spent under provisional administration. At the time, the Territorial Department of Belfort pointed out numerous dysfunctions concerning the reception of minors.
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“We are going to be factual”
“The time has come to explain,” says Alain Jakubowicz, determined to “reestablish the truth”. After long minutes of discrediting the various local press articles, he assured “that he did not want to start a war between the Department and Madame Lehmann. Today we will be very factual. »
Runaways, sexual assault?
Documents in hand, the Lyon lawyer torpedoes everything that could have been criticized against his client and her establishment. Twenty-three children in the structure when there are only 12 places? “That’s not true. » Would children run away from the establishment en masse? “In reality, this is a perfectly acceptable number and most runaways happen when the children are not at home. » A young girl victim of sexual assault? “She’s a storyteller. The young man she denounces was not in Epona during this period. We are not in Me Too and the words of women here. She's a kid in a terrifying psychological situation and just because she says something doesn't mean it's true. »
“The provisional administrator refused to take the documents sent to him”
Martial Marilet, provisional administrator of the establishment just before its closure, is also targeted. “We have emails and documents where he retracts his positions taken in the press, where he declares that the work carried out on a daily basis by the director of the establishment is of quality. And we have a bailiff's report which confirms that the provisional administrator refused to take the documents sent to him to answer the Department's questions. »
The departmental decree was in fact motivated by the lack of communication of documents relating to the operation of the structure. “I asked for the establishment project, the organization chart, the internal regulations. I currently have no documents from the director. I am therefore unable to understand how the structure works,” Martial Marilet declared to The Republican East on September 23.
No document provided to the press
If during this press conference, many documents were brandished by Mr.e Alain Jakubowicz to support his remarks, the journalists present did not have access to it. Invited to request them by email, we have, at the time of writing these lines, still not received any response from the Lyon lawyer to our requests.
Florian Bouquet: “the departmental council took the necessary decisions”
“Let Mr. Bouquet take his responsibilities and explain his order. He killed Epona! » During Alain Jakubowicz's press conference, Florian Bouquet, the president of the Territoire de Belfort, tutelary administration of the Epona home, was not spared. The latter did not want to outbid, “Epona, I would be tempted to say that it is behind me. The train continues to move forward, today I have another operator. » The elected official recalls that the Department currently takes care of 456 children in care, double the number ten years ago. “We've seen a series of problems accelerate. A number of children much higher than that provided for by the approval. There was a lack of employment of staff with many employees resigning or on leave. My primary mission is to ensure the protection of children and I took the necessary decision because there were reports from the gendarmerie, the Fontaine town hall and employees. The main thing is that the page is turned and that the children are now more serene. »
B.C.
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