“House of horror” in Pas-de-Calais: what legal consequences?
A sibling of ten children was discovered living in unworthy conditions in a house near Lens. The parents were left free and encourage two years in prison for the moment.
The horror, then the questions. A few days after the discovery of a family of ten children living in unworthy conditions, in Noyelle-sous-Lens, in the Pas-de-Calais, the interrogations remain on the possible legal consequences that this case known as “the house of horror”. The parents have for the moment been left free and placed under judicial control.
“It’s an enigma.” For the lawyer of the association La Voix de l’enfant, Isabelle Steyer, it is surprising that justice has chosen to place the parents under simple judicial control.
The couple is to date indicted for violence by ascending on minors under 15 years old. They are notably suspected of having been spanked, tied up and deprived of their children’s liberty. Presented to the Béthune judicial court, they acknowledged the facts and were placed under judicial control.
“Offence” or “crime”?
The qualification of the facts as a “misdemeanor” and not as a “crime” surprises the lawyer for the association for the defense of children, while the couple currently faces 2 years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros because they are accused of not having fulfilled their parental obligations.
“Children tied up, uneducated, who live in conditions like those described are victims of acts of torture and barbarism so it’s criminal,” she said on our antenna.
The woman of law recalls that this qualification has serious consequences. If the parents were indicted for crimes, they would indeed not have been left free pending their judgment.
“The consequence is also obviously the prescription”, longer in the event of a crime, she adds.
A long investigation in sight
Dominique Rizet, police-justice consultant for BFMTV, recalls that the living conditions of the children and the charges against the parents have not yet been precisely determined.
“Are we into mistreatment or into bad lifestyle habits? It is the investigation that will say it, ”he explains.
This work falls to the investigators, but also to the psychologists and psychiatrists who will discuss with the children in order to determine precisely what they have experienced and to allow “justice (to) be able to assess the level of seriousness”.
Will be observed in particular “poverty” and “language”, explains Johanna Rozenblum, clinical psychologist, on BFMTV. “We will try to observe their psycho-motor development”, she adds, specifying “that a child who has been tied up, who has not walked, for example, has very round feet like a newborn “.
Depending on the conclusions of the experts, the qualification of the facts can be assessed. “It can go from misdemeanor to crime. Nobody knows what we will discover,” says Dominique Rizet.
Parents banned from contact with their children
The alert was given by the eldest of the children. Aged 24, he showed up this week at a police station in Pas-de-Calais, after being kicked out by his father.
The police intervened at the home and discovered in particular two children aged two and five tied to their high chair and presenting developmental and speech delays.
Placed under judicial control, the parents have, among other things, the obligation to report regularly to the police station, not to leave the region or even not to come into contact with their children. The children will be placed in a home before a foster family is found.