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A Quebec woman who threw scalding water on a young child was sentenced to 27 months in prison at the Longueuil, Que., courthouse on Wednesday.
Quebec court Judge Marc Antoine Carette agreed with a joint recommendation presented by the Crown and defence in determining Stéphanie Borel’s sentence.
Borel, 47, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault last September in connection with an incident that took place on Oct. 2, 2024.
After the incident, the boy told Radio-Canada that he was walking home from school with friends in the city on the South Shore of Montreal, when they “took a shortcut” that passes in front of the woman’s residence.
His father said the boy arrived home around 4 p.m., screaming: “Dad, someone threw boiling water on me. I’ve been burned!”
The boy, who was 10 years old at the time, suffered second-degree burns to about four per cent of his body, including his face, chest and shoulder blade.
A publication ban is in place to protect his identity.
According to an agreed statement of facts, no evidence suggested that Borel, who is white, targeted the boy, who is Black, due to his race.
The agreed statement of facts notes that the boy and Borel did not know each other. Borel, it says, lived near the boy’s elementary school and was fed up after children from the school had been ringing her doorbell for several months as part of a “ring-and-run” game.
It notes that the day of the assault, the boy was approaching Borel’s door to “ring and run” but before he had the chance, she opened the door, threw boiling water on him and said, in French, “It’s hot, isn’t it? Get out of here.”
The boy’s family attended Wednesday’s sentencing hearing. In a letter read by the Crown, the family described the toll of the incident on the boy’s like, including feelings of constant fear and living with visible scars.
The family asked for a prison sentence in the case to send a message that violence against children is unacceptable.
During the hearing, defence laywer Mélanie Brochu presented mitigating factors, such as the fact that her client pleaded guilty, recognized the facts and is actively seeking psychological help.
Borel, whose bail was revoked in October, will have 20 months remaining on her sentence.
A publication ban has been issued in this case. As a result, CBC has blurred the faces of the boy and his mother and is withholding their names.
