A 57-year-old teacher was tried on Thursday by the Nantes court. eight hour hearing for a sensitive matter with in the room of visibly tested parents. Justice accuses the teacher of violence on ten former students, from CP to CM1, between 2014 and 2021. This teacher, now suspended, worked in this Carquefou private school since 1993.
At length, the president of the court announces the hearings of the children before the investigators. None are present. Thus, a little girl says that she is “nothing”another than“she wants to die”. In other children, it is described sleeping or eating disorders. There is alsoi the anguish, the tears, and the lump in the stomach when it is the day of class for this teacher, who officiates part-time in CP. Some parents have chosen to withdraw the children on the days in question. For each of the children, there is not necessarily an expert report. But for some, yes. Thus, a medical examiner will prescribe 30 days of incapacity for work to a little girl justifying this measure by “his immense sadness”.
“When a child walks into your office and says ‘save me’, it gets to the guts” – the director
It all started with a complaint three years ago: a child who said she was pushed by the teacher. She still denies this scene today. The complaint had also been dismissed at the time by the prosecutor. A year ago, a second complaint, then others in cascade. It is reported yelling at some students, a child punished in a closet for 20 minutes, others thrown out in the cold without a coat, bullying, humiliation like these copies with the faults exhibited to the whole class. “A humiliating method” for a substitute colleague. The director repeatedly asked the parents to put things in writing but it took a long time.
At the bar, the teacher, long square, white jacket and skirt, stands straight. Aged 57 today, she displays more than 30 years of service in this school and says he has SMS, support emails from colleagues. She does not disassemble. She admits having personality, it also transpires at the hearing. She also admits to talking loudly but claims not to yell at children, much less push one or put one in a closet. “I am not responsible for everything”, she said, preferring to move forward “the interpretation of the parents, the feelings of the children, the colleagues who do not help her but who discredit her”. She is in conflict with certain colleagues, also prosecuted for moral harassment out of five.
Among them there is the director, Philippe Plantard, who regrets that the defendant “Often presents himself as a victim. Old-fashioned methods? I don’t know. it takes guts. We wonder what’s going on and that’s when we start to dig, to look more.” Facts about some children, not all, the director recognizes that with some it goes well.
The teacher refutes the accusations and describes herself as a “caring” person
Julien Boucher, a dad, who first filed a complaint in June 2021, deplores “denial, she puts the blame on other children, colleagues. She never talks about the children, does not apologize.” Her son – and this is the only fact that the teacher admits on the stand – was forced “to stand with his arms on his head, more than 20 minutes, until exhaustion, until crying, that everyone laughs. He has a lot of anger, anxiety, it’s complicated for people children of this age.” Me Cécile De Oliveira, his lawyertalk about the “all power of the mistress (…) I don’t know if this little boy has been locked in a closet, but day and night, he is locked up in his fears, in his tears.”
On several occasions, the defendant presents herself as someone “rigid, rigorous and benevolent”. A qualifier that annoys some parents who “boil” on the bench. A qualifier that in no way corresponds to the teacher according to the prosecution. The prosecutor wanted to list the anxieties, night terrors, eating disorders of some children and even this little girl with suicidal thoughts. He requires a 30-month suspended prison sentence and a permanent ban on practicing. This is what some parents have asked for before.
Judgment August 29
“I have the impression of defending evil, Folcoche (Editor’s note: character of a perverse mother in Hervé Bazin’s novel “Viper in the fist”)”, retorts in defense Me Loïc Cabioch. For him, moral harassment towards colleagues, “these are disagreements, bickering”. As for the violence alleged against the children, for him, they do not exist: “the complaint for physical violence (note: a girl who says she was pushed) was shelved. For the rest, if there have undoubtedly been inappropriate punishments, they are not psychological violence, we have not been shown his willingness to inflict suffering on children. He pleads for release for violence, harassment. As for the fact of having hijacked the email of a colleague, the lawyer admits that his client can only be found guilty. He asks that this sentence not be entered in bulletin number 2 of the criminal record. If this is the case, the 50-year-old will no longer be able to work in the public service.
The defendant has a few tears in her eyes after 4 hours of interrogation when she talks about her future. At the end of the hearing, she asks the justice “to ensure his rehabilitation and reintegration.” Judgment was reserved for August 29.she will be fixed on her fate at that time.