"I did not know it was a baby," says the mother back in court

A mother of three has been on appeal in Limoges (Haute-Vienne) since Monday (October 7th) for hiding her fourth child, Séréna, in a car trunk and in the basement of the family home. She had been sentenced to two years in prison. An extreme case of denial, child concealment and lack of care.

The Appeal Court of Haute-Vienne appeals until October 16, Rosa da Cruz, 51, mother "Good" and "Loving" of three normally raised children, and of a small Serena, whom she kept hidden for 23 months for all to see, in a room in the basement of the family home, and in her car. A tragedy that has become that of the "baby in the trunk" and which has marked the spirits.

In November 2018 before the Assize Court of Corrèze, hyears of imprisonment had been required. The accused was sentenced to two years in prison. Then the public prosecutor's office appealed the sentence. The defense, which pleaded the acquittal, appealed, in particular challenging the deprivation of parental authority.

What happened ?

The existence of Séréna was discovered when she was already 23 months, October 25, 2013. The unreal scene takes place in a garage Terrasson-Lavilledieu (Dordogne) where the mother of the girl had brought his Peugeot 307 to repair. Alerted by noise from the trunk, one of the employees found the child naked and extremely dirty, surrounded by toys.

"Filth", "Larvae", "Stench odor" of "Putrefaction", "Deplorable hygiene", are the words of witnesses, firefighters and investigators who first saw the child. He has "It took four successive washes to give it a good look" and defeating the smell of excrement, noted the hospital of Brive. The little girl weighed 7.8 kg (against 12 kg on average at 2 years).

It turned out that his mother was keeping her either in the trunk in the car's interior or in a room in the basement of the family home, where no one was ever going, the girl lying on two of them. foam mattress, wedged with cushions. To feed her, her mother brought him cow's milk in brick then mixed food. She had chosen a name: Serena. "Because she was calm …"said the mother.

What has become of the child?

The experts described an autistic syndrome "Likely irreversible"constituting a "Permanent disability" and a "Functional deficit at 80%"result of the first 23 months of "Sensory deprivation", "Without any external contact or stimuli".

Serena has recovered a growth of a child of her age, for the rest, the development of the girl is very delayed. The child acquired chewing, but only after the age of 5 years. Cleanliness too. But at the age of five and a half, the journalistWest France in his transcript of the 15th of November 2018.

Serena, soon to be 8, has the mental development of a child of 2-3 years and divides her time between a host family and a specialized medical-educational institute.

What is the attitude of the mother?

Rosa da Cruz appeared Monday, October 7, 2019 during the first day of appeal hearing, relatively little changed by one year of detention, a little marked perhaps, but with the same expression sad and weary, reports the Agency France Press (AFP). Less prostrate anyway, as she began, in a clear voice, to answer the questions of the court, on his personality, his career. To a question from the President, the accused explained that she had talked about Serena to her other children before going to prison. "They are the ones who asked me questions. I told them that I did not know it was a baby and that I did not care about them like them ", did he answer according to South West.

How far can the denial of pregnancy, childbirth and maternity go? The trial plunged right away into these psychic springs. "In the basement, there is (for the mother) no child, there is a doll that survives. She will take care of it in the manner of a little girl who will take care of a doll. She can not see her, feel her, feel her like a real child ». Professor Henri-Michel Delcroix, Obstetrician Gynecologist, attempted to describe the state of "Complete psychic stupor" of the mother of Serena, giving birth alone after a "Denial of total pregnancy". Already, her second child was born too after a denial of pregnancy, and her third after a denial lifted after only seven months. Without any psycho-medical follow-up in the meantime.

This sneering, continues the expert close to the French Association for the recognition of the denial of pregnancy, explains the "Cleaved behavior", "Total psychic dissociation" at the mother's, with total denial of pregnancy, then of childbirth. A behavior to which the survival of Serena is miraculous. The expert will say "Never having seen such a situation in the recent medical literature", and will reveal that the case Serena (and his mother) is the subject of research.

"We do not judge Ms. da Cruz for the circumstances of the birth, we do not judge for a denial of pregnancy, we judge for voluntary violence that resulted in permanent disabilities", has reframed the general lawyer Claude Derens, seeing beyond the amazement, "Concealment ploys" in the accused.

She incurs 20 years of imprisonment.

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Girl found in a chest: "I did not know it was a baby," says the mother back to justiceOuest-France.fr

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