A 46-year-old woman from Longueuil, Que., who allegedly threw boiling water at a 10-year-old boy as he walked by her home is facing a charge of aggravated assault.
Stéphanie Borel was arrested following the attack on Oct. 2 that left the boy with serious burns to his head, face, torso and back.
She was released the same day on a promise to appear and under conditions, including not contacting the child and his family, said the Service de police de l’agglomération de Longueuil (SPAL).
That decision sparked concerns from the public and groups like the Red Coalition, an anti-racism advocacy organization.
“We ask you to imagine, for a moment, if the roles had been reversed — if a Black man had thrown boiling water on a 10-year-old white girl. It’s hard to believe that he would have been allowed to regain his freedom while awaiting trial,” read a letter sent Thursday to police Chief Marc Leduc and Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier by the Red Coalition.
The group wrote that by not keeping the suspect in custody, authorities seemed to be “indicating that crimes committed against Black and racialized people are not treated with the same degree of seriousness.”
Borel was arrested again on Friday morning following the “acquisition of new investigative elements,” according to a news release sent by the SPAL.
“The file was submitted to the director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP), who authorized the charges and requested for an arrest warrant to be issued today,” read the statement.
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.
Borel appeared via video conference at the Longueuil courthouse in the afternoon.
She will be back in court on Oct. 16 for a bail hearing and will remain behind bars until then.
A publication ban on the boy’s identity was also issued on Friday.
The boy’s uncle says he and the family are “thankful” to the authorities for their efforts to protect the family.
“We’re recovering from the shock. For the rest, we have faith in God,” he said.
In 2021, Borel was charged with assault in a separate case and was acquitted after agreeing to sign a peace bond.
Alleged assault after taking ‘shortcut’
The boy told Radio-Canada that he was walking home from school with friends in the city on the South Shore of Montreal and that they “took a shortcut” that passes in front of the woman’s residence in a multi-residential building near the intersection of Curé-Poirier Boulevard East and Chambly Road.
His father said the boy arrived home around 4 p.m., screaming, “Dad, someone threw boiling water on me. I’ve been burned!”
Following the attack, Borel allegedly told the boy’s father that she assaulted his son because he had a habit of knocking at her door for the past three years.
The boy’s father said that was impossible as the family only moved to the neighbourhood in January and the boy only started attending the school near the woman’s home a month ago.
