Saint-Denis: an uncle sexually assaults his 10-year-old niece at night, “I woke up and I saw”

On March 28, 2023, Pauline*, 10 years old, sleeps at her uncle's house, as she is used to, while her mother is away. The little girl is asleep in the living room, with her cousins. The next day, she spends the day with her grandmother. She tells him about a sexual assault by her uncle, her grandmother's son, in the middle of the night. She will file a complaint a few days later.

During the trial, the defense insisted that Pauline was a troubled child since her parents' divorce. She is followed by a psychologist and describes doing “lucid dream” during which she thinks she sees people who are not there. Her uncle says he simply moved her while she was sleeping and she “must have been imagining things” at that time.

But Pauline makes it clear that that's not what happened that night. ”When he started doing his stuff, I woke up, opened my eyes and saw”declares the young girl.

At first instance, the judge considered that doubt persisted about the reality of the attack and the uncle was acquitted. The uncle's family says he has problems with alcohol and has a particular relationship with sexuality. He denies. He was accused of sexual assault by his ex-wife, but the complaint was dismissed.

“[Pauline] has three traumas: the divorce of her parents, the attack by her uncle and being treated like a liar”declares the general advocate. She demands, for the uncle, a prison sentence, an obligation to work, care, and a ban on contact for a certain time.

*First name changed

P. K.