After the violent death of a five-year-old in France, the public prosecutor’s office has filed a case against the 15-year-old suspect for “murdering a minor”. The youth exercised his right to remain silent during the interrogation, the public prosecutor said on Thursday in Epinal, in eastern France.
The body of the five-year-old girl named Rose will be examined on Friday. Only then will there be details about the circumstances of her death and an answer to the question of whether the girl had been raped, said prosecutor Frédéric Nahon.
While in police custody, the youth showed no signs of mental disorders. However, in a preliminary report, an expert concluded “that there is impaired judgment and that it is dangerous to others,” Nahon said.
The youth faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. A life sentence is not possible because he is not yet 16 years old, Nahon explained.
The case had caused outrage in France. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the youth was investigated last year for the rape of minors. The alleged victims were two boys aged ten and eleven. The young person was therefore admitted to a closed educational institution for a year, which corresponds to the maximum period stipulated by law.
According to the prosecutor, he had been back in his hometown of Rambervillers since March and lived with his mother. He had fulfilled his obligations to be treated and to take up training. The educators would have certified him a positive development, said Nahon.
According to initial investigations, the five-year-old Rose had been playing outside near her parents’ house. Images from a surveillance camera show that the youth did not use force to take the girl away. According to information from the newspaper “Vosges Matin”, he had a cat with him. A few hours after the parents reported the daughter’s disappearance, police found her body in a plastic bag in a nearby apartment in the presence of the youth.
