French creche worker gets 25 years over drain cleaner killing of baby

Myriam Jaouen was found guilty of killing an infant by making it swallow a caustic chemical drain cleaning product. Photo / AFP

• A French ex-daycare worker, Myriam Jaouen, was sentenced to 25 years for giving a baby drain cleaner.
• Jaouen was found guilty of “torture and act of barbarism resulting in death” without intent to kill.
• The incident sparked outrage and investigations into the private daycare sector’s shortcomings in France.

A French ex-daycare worker on Thursday was sentenced to 25 years in prison over a baby’s death in her care, after she gave the infant drain cleaner to silence her crying.

Myriam Jaouen, 30, was charged with murder but the court in the southeastern city of Lyon found her guilty of “torture and act of barbarism resulting in death” but with no intention to kill.

There is an “unfathomable” element to the 2022 killing of baby Lisa, said prosecutor Baptiste Godreau as he outlined sentencing demands, adding that Jaouen had acted “perfectly conscious” of what she was doing.

He said that the “heavy” sentencing demand was aimed at “punishing the extreme seriousness of this act, for having taken the life of a defenceless child in a cowardly fashion, to protect society in a lasting way and to protect the interests of the family”.

The accused admitted while in police custody that she had given Lisa the corrosive liquid while insisting that she had not intended to kill her.

She presented several versions of the facts before admitting during the trial that she had held the child’s head and poured the product directly into her mouth.

She said that she could no longer bear the little girl’s crying.

“Is it impossible to spend eight minutes alone with a child when you have the qualification?” asked Godreau.

‘Cowardice’

He denounced the defendant’s “cowardice” after the incident, saying she did not call for help herself, got rid of the bottle before she finished her workday and then went shopping, seemingly indifferent to the baby’s “agony”.

Myriam attended the proceedings with her back often hunched, without showing much emotion.

At the time of the tragedy, the young woman, who is partially deaf, was still living with her parents after a difficult school career and on-off jobs in the sector.

Despite her flaws and lack of experience, Jaouen was hired by the People and Baby group, a major player in the creche sector in France, which managed the nursery.

On June 22, 2022, she was alone at the opening of the facility when Lisa’s father dropped off the infant.

A few minutes later, two women who had come to drop off their sons found the employee panicking and the child vomiting.

The girl, seriously burned, died late that morning at the hospital where she had been taken.

Lisa’s death sparked outrage in France and triggered a series of investigations both by the Government and media which highlighted shortcomings in the private daycare sector.

But when they gave evidence in court, Lisa’s parents wanted to bring the debate back to the criminal responsibility of the defendant, whom they described as the “monster” who killed their daughter.

– Agence France-Presse