A dramatic twist at the trial of three childcare workers before the Charleroi Criminal Court. They are being prosecuted following the death in 2016 in the crèche of a three-month-old baby. The three childcare workers are accused of non-assistance to a person in danger, but this morning the court felt it had to examine whether the facts should not be reclassified: we would go from non-assistance to a person in danger to manslaughter.
The Charleroi Criminal Court announced late Wednesday morning the postponement of the case concerning the death of a three-month-old baby in the Dourlet nursery in Charleroi in May 2016. A possible requalification of the facts, so far qualified as non-assistance to a person in danger, is envisaged
This follows the death of little Ciena, 3 and a half months, in her bed in a municipal nursery in Charleroi on May 9, 2016.
“We steal the truth from them”
More than 6 years after the tragedy, the first of the three childcare workers testified this Wednesday morning at the Charleroi Criminal Court. “What we heard is literally scary“, indicates Maître Fabian Lauvaux, the lawyer of the parents of Ciena.The main defendant has just said that she knew absolutely nothing about the habits of the child. She does not know how much he drank, if the child was regurgitating, why the mattress was raised and why the child was on his stomach. This is an extremely painful time for parents. They expect a minimum of plausible explanations. We are stealing this truth from them.“
According to the lawyer, a simple question is asked. “Who put the child in the prone position?“, asks the lawyer. “We have no response. No one takes responsibility. It is truly dramatic.“
Nurses demand acquittal
The nurses were also allegedly negligent, which allegedly resulted in Ciena’s death. These three professional childcare workers pass the buck, they recognize the error, but not the responsibility.
Questions remain: who put the child in the prone position? Why didn’t you come when the child was snoring? Why not give him the bottle in this warm room? So many questions that have not found a definitive answer, which prompted the judge to send the two parties back to May 17 for the pleadings.