The first incident of the alleged abuse occurred when the oldest stepdaughter, called L, was just 10 years old. From that point on, the abuse happened “every weekend”, the now 23-year-old victim tearfully told the court on Tuesday. It is also said to have taken place whenever she and her sister spent the night with their mother at the abuser’s home, or when he stayed with them.
The reconstituted family did not live together during the week.
Whenever the family spent the night under one roof, the accused, Fabrice C, would enter the children’s bedroom, sit on L’s bed, touch her chest and intimate parts under the blankets, and masturbate. The victim says she pretended to be asleep and endured the abuse for two reasons.
First, she wanted to protect her younger sister A, hoping that by not resisting, Fabrice C would leave her sister alone. Unfortunately, this was in vain, as the accused is also alleged to have assaulted A three times while she was in primary school.
Second, Fabrice C allegedly threatened the victim with a “bad surprise” – a veiled warning of a fatal accident if she ever told anyone about the abuse. The girls’ mother confirmed in court that the accused had threatened that if they were ever in a car together, he would “take us to our deaths”.
In all those years, L defended herself only once – when Fabrice C secretly filmed her and her younger sister in the shower during a holiday at a campsite using his phone. She confronted him about it at dinner immediately after the shower.
However, when the mother later checked Fabrice C’s phone, she found no video evidence.
The victims’ mother never suspected any inappropriate touching. She did find it odd when her partner would get up at night or come out of the children’s room, but he explained that he was checking on A, who is now 19 years old.
She believed him, as the girl had suffered from breathing problems as a small child – an issue linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Unlike her older sister, A was more likely to resist. After Fabrice C also attempted to assault her, she chose to sleep in the living room, surrounded by nearly ten dogs and cats. The family’s chihuahua was particularly unfriendly toward Fabrice C and had even bitten him once.
Despite everything, the young woman described her relationship with the accused as intimate: “He was like a father to me. He raised us.”
Everything only came to light after 13 years, when the mother separated from Fabrice C and they began living apart. It was then that L, followed by A, finally found the courage to reveal to the family what had happened to them.
In response, their mother immediately filed a complaint in the summer of 2020. Now, five years later, she tearfully told the court alongside her daughters: “My children are not lying. Why would they do that after I broke up with him?”
Fabrice C denies all allegations. He claims to have had a good relationship with his stepchildren, who had little or no contact with their biological fathers.
The accused, a chef at Härebierg, explained that he once massaged L’s knee after she injured herself, and that when the massage moved higher up her leg – as the girl alleged – he did so because of his first aid training.
According to him, the children made the accusations out of fear that he would separate from their mother. “Nothing happened”, he insisted.
However, after the complaint was filed, child pornography was found on his computer as part of a search effort, including about 20 photos and more than 70 films.
The defendant offered an explanation for this as well. He claimed to have downloaded films and series in bulk from various websites and suggested that inappropriate material might have been included unintentionally. He also said that it could have appeared because L had typed “paedophilia” into Google on his computer.
The court president was unconvinced. He asked the investigator if, in her career, she had ever seen anyone unintentionally or accidentally download such explicit content from the internet, which she answered in the negative. The judge noted that this is a common pattern: defendants who deny all charges, only to be contradicted by undeniable evidence found on their computers.
Rumours had circulated in the past about Fabrice C allegedly assaulting a girl at a youth centre. However, when interviewed by the police, the woman in question did not confirm these claims.
Fabrice C’s own mother, now deceased, had stated that he assaulted his young niece, O – the cousin of the victims – when she was in nursery school. Yet, O has no memory of such an incident.
Another niece, C, tearfully testified that since her cousins began speaking out, she has been torn between disbelief and doubt. She cannot accept that her cousins are lying, but she also struggles to believe that her uncle and godfather could have abused the two sisters. Having often visited his home since childhood, she recalled that nothing inappropriate ever happened.
A psychiatrist who examined Fabrice C noted that his first sexual experience occurred at the age of 38, with the mother of the victims. The psychiatrist concluded that if the accusations were true, Fabrice C’s behaviour would not indicate a paraphilic disorder but rather perverse conduct.
Since he denies everything and shows no remorse, therapy was deemed unlikely to be effective. Meanwhile, a psychologist who assessed the victims’ statements found them credible, with only minor inconsistencies, and believed they reflected real experiences.
On Wednesday, the second day of the trial, the prosecution requested a 10-year prison sentence for indecent assault, threats, and possession of child pornography. The prosecutor stated that there is no doubt the offences were committed.
The defence lawyer disagreed, highlighting the absence of objective evidence regarding the assaults. “It’s one person’s word against another’s,” he argued, questioning the victims’ testimonies, which he said contained numerous inconsistencies.
Regarding the child pornography found on the computers, he noted that the metadata had been deleted, so there was no proof the defendant had actually viewed the material. Should his client be found guilty, he requested a fully suspended sentence or probation.
The victims’ lawyer, representing them as civil parties in the trial, demanded €30,000 in damages for each of the sisters and €7,500 for their mother, who “blames herself”.
The verdict is expected on 14 July.
