11 years on the run for this mother and her five-year-old daughter at the time to flee a father whom she accuses of rape and incestuous sexual assault. Justice ruled this Wednesday, January 4, Priscilla Majani is sentenced on appeal to two years and nine months in prison.
The facts date back to February 2011, when Priscilla Majani is in the process of divorcing her husband, the couple cannot find common ground on the custody of their daughter, Camille. While the court of justice validated joint custody in May 2010, this mother formally opposes it. She accuses her ex-husband of rape and sexual assault on their five-year-old daughter at the time and files a complaint against him. A complaint which is dismissed by the courts and which will force Priscilla Majani to present her daughter to her father.
It was then that this mother made the decision to run away with her little girl in order to protect her from this father whom she said was abusive. Finally, eleven years later, in March 2022, Priscilla Majani was found in Switzerland with her daughter, now a teenager and aged sixteen. Aged 48, her run ended after being the target of a classic traffic check and where the police discovered her secret identity. She was finally extradited to France in August 2022 where she must appear in court for the facts of ” child subtraction“. Her first trial in September 2022 before the Toulon Criminal Court sentenced her to five years in prison, a sentence which the mother is appealing.
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A reduction in the initial sentence
The appeal hearing took place last November before the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal. Priscilla Majani’s lawyer, Maître Sophie Benayoun, had then requested the release of her client from all charges: slanderous and false denunciations as well as the “child subtraction“. This Wednesday, January 4, the Court of Appeal delivered its verdict, Camille’s mother is sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for the second count and is released from the convictions of slanderous denunciation. She is also compelled to pay 30,000 euros to her ex-husband for the moral damage he allegedly suffered. His lawyer then spoke and announced that he was filing an appeal in cassation: “This demonstrates a blindness of justice in the face of violence against children. Mrs. Majani was released from the charge of slanderous denunciation, that means that she did not lie, that she reported her daughter’s word and that she is a protective mother“.
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Public support for Priscilla Majani
Several actions have been taken with regard to this mother, indeed we have seen many videos on social networks showing the support of anonymous people before the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal. A hashtag was also launched to lend a hand to Priscilla Majani#IWouldHaveLikeHersome public figures have also taken it up, such as Catherine Marchal, Enora Malagré or Alex Lutz.
This mother also received support from her daughter, Camille, who is 17 today. The teenager filed a complaint against her father for acts of sexual assault, psychological and physical violence and also accused her father publicly in a YouTube video.