an investigation opened in Creuse

The manager of the structure which welcomes these placed children was placed in pre-trial detention, suspected of aggravated violence against minors, lack of care and forced labor. The place of life has been closed for a week.

A judicial investigation is opened for aggravated violence against minors, lack of care and forced labor and working conditions unworthy of human life after suspicions of mistreatment towards children placed in Saint-Maurice-La-Souterraine, in Creuse, has been learned France Bleu Creuse Saturday March 30 at the Guéret public prosecutor’s office, confirming information from the newspaper The mountain.

“Inadequate” and “disproportionate” sanctions

A structure of the Anvie company, which welcomes four children aged 10 to 17, is targeted by the investigation. This investigation began after a report from a doctor to the public prosecutor’s office. A child and his educator confided in the Samu, denouncing facts involving disproportionate sanctions.

The young man claims that when he felt ill, the person in charge of the structure forced him to walk several kilometers, before he collapsed and went to the hospital. The parquet evokes “sanctions imposed on children [qui] seem unsuitable, disproportionate, like steps with a significant number of kilometers”. According to the prosecution, the structure used market gardening as an educational support.

Suspicions of forced labor

During the hearings, several testimonies suggested that this pedagogy was in reality a means of forcing minors to perform forced labor. The head of this structure was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention on Friday March 29. The prosecution specifies that this man in his fifties disputes the facts and instead speaks of measures “pedagogical”.

His wife was also placed in police custody, before being released, France Bleu Creuse learned from the gendarmes. The four children were removed from the site to be accommodated elsewhere a week ago, as the investigation began. The structure has been closed for a week, the mayor of the town told France Bleu Creuse.