Mother of five dead babies found in Orange, France charged with murder; father released without charges

The discovery

On Sunday 26 July, a 32-year-old woman in Orange, Vaucluse, gave birth at home to a healthy baby boy while her partner was out with their two older children, aged 8 and 9. According to a police source quoted by several outlets, the partner had left so she could rest due to abdominal pain. When he returned, he found the newborn and alerted the hospital. Troubled by the late discovery of the pregnancy (the couple had experienced previous denials of pregnancy), the man searched the apartment and found what appeared to be human remains in a cardboard box: a decomposing newborn. He contacted the Orange hospital centre, which notified the Carpentras prosecutor's office. Police searched the home on Monday evening and uncovered four more infant bodies, some reduced to bones. A medical examiner determined that the bones and the decomposing body belonged to five infants.

The charges

The mother was hospitalised after giving birth and arrested on Wednesday 29 July upon her discharge. She was placed in police custody in Avignon and questioned. The partner was also taken into custody on Wednesday morning but was released without charges on Thursday evening. On Friday 31 July, the mother was presented to an investigating judge in Avignon and placed under formal investigation (mise en examen) for "murder on a minor under 15 years". The deputy public prosecutor, Jean-François Mayet, stated that the prevention period runs from April 2018 to October 2025. The mother, described by Le Parisien as "taciturn", admitted to giving birth secretly to the infants but maintained that each was stillborn. She told investigators, "All these babies were stillborn", and denied any act of smothering. Initial observations indicate the umbilical cord was still around the neck of the infants, and they may never have breathed. Forensic examinations are underway to determine whether any of them drew breath.

The father's account

The 32-year-old partner, whose name has not been made public, is not facing any charges. His lawyer, Hayet El Aouadi, told France Bleu Vaucluse that her client is "a shattered father who is focusing on his two children" and that "he is in a state of shock, the sky has fallen on his head." He maintains he had no knowledge of the pregnancies or the births. The prosecutor's office confirmed that the man stated he was completely unaware of the potential pregnancies. He had been present during earlier births of their two children but was absent for the Sunday delivery.

He knew nothing at all.

Child welfare measures

The couple's three surviving children, the two older ones, aged 8 and 9, and the newborn boy, are the subject of urgent child protection actions. The Carpentras prosecutor's office has requested the child welfare services (ASE) to carry out a rapid assessment of the older children's situation; they are currently being cared for by relatives. The newborn has been placed under temporary care pending the referral to a children's judge. The investigation is now under the supervision of the Avignon investigating magistrate.

Historical resonance

The case has drawn comparisons to the 2010 Dominique Cottrez affair, in which eight newborn bodies were discovered buried in a garden and garage in northern France. Cottrez received a nine-year prison sentence in 2015. That case remains the most severe French infanticide on record.