19 people are due to go on trial this Monday for taking in minors into their custody without authorisation – some of whom were allegedly subjected to physical and psychological abuse, humiliation and forced labor.
What has been described as an “out of the ordinary” trial gets underway in the central French town of Châteauroux this Monday regarding dozens of children who were illegally entrusted by the ASE state social care service to foster facilities – which did not have the proper authorisation – between 2010 and 2017.
Some of the families even had their initial approval withdrawn, following convictions for sexual assault on minors, as revealed by investigative media outlet Médiapart.
In all, dozens of children were entrusted to the “Enfance et Bien-Être” association, where irregular "foster homes" were given compensation amounting to at least €630,000 over seven years.
Some of the minors entrusted to the foster families have told of being exposed to various forms of violence, abuse, drug overdoses, forced labour and regular humiliation.
According to Jean Sannier, one of the civil parties' lawyers: “Some of these children have been enslaved, and we were appalled when we discovered the extent of the case”.
At least five of the minors are expected to testify at the trial, which will take place in Châteauroux from 14 to 18 October.
Unprecedented abuse
According to the investigation, the affair broke out after one of the children, Mathias, was hospitalised for “a fall on his bike”, but refused to return to his tormentor's home after a spending a week in a coma.
A report was then made to the public prosecutor's office, which uncovered repeated acts of abuse committed between 2010 and 2017.
“This story came to light after some atrocious events. The investigators then traced it back to this organisation with the poetic name "Enfance et bien-être" – which means "Childhood and well-being" – and to two of its alleged founders, Sannier explained.
For the civil parties, “this is clearly an extraordinary trial”, says the lawyer.
“A trial on this scale, involving so many people, with so much abuse, I've never seen anything like it”.
19 people have been summoned to appear in court on charges of violence, undeclared work in an organised gang, taking in minors without prior declaration, administration of a harmful substance or the use of forged documents.
The defendants include two alleged managers of the “Enfance et Bien-Etre” association.
No accountability
However, none of the people in charge of the ASE will be on trial, which is what the civil parties are criticising.
“The ASE, which costs more than €9 billion a year, sometimes entrusts children to people who don't have accreditation, but nobody is held to account,” says Ms Sellier with astonishment.
France's Nord département – which is responsible for issuing the necessary approvals to foster families – declined to comment on the case “pending judgment”.
In the Nord départment, the cries of alarm have multiplied in recent years, as the child welfare system faces major difficulties, with an ever-increasing number of children in need of foster care.
Straddling the Belgian border – with Lille as its capital – Nord is France's most densely populated department, with large pockets of poverty.
In September, Nord had some 22,837 children under protective care – including more than 12,805 placed in foster families or homes.
