Dad puts 3-yr-old son in washing machine, turns it on killing him

September 10, 2015 1:19 AM

Christophe Champenois, 37, allegedly sought to punish his son Bastien for 'behaving badly at school'.

3-yr-old Bastien dies after dad puts him in a washing machine and turns it on to teach him a lesson

According to a French court, a father allegedly killed his three-year-old son by putting him in a washing machine and turning it on.

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Christophe Champenois, 37, allegedly sought to punish his son, Bastien for 'behaving badly at school'.

Bastien's mother, Charlotte Cotte, 29, is charged with collusion and appeared alongside Champenois.

She maintained this version throughout the investigation, and Cotte has previously said she saw Champenois put Bastien in the washing machine and turn it on.

Cotte told investigators she was doing a puzzle with her daughter and Champenois was surfing on the internet while their son screamed inside the tumbling machine.

She said that when her ex-husband removed Bastien from the washing machine and noticed he was no longer breathing he said: 'At least he won't bother us anymore.'

However, in an interview with Le Parisien published Tuesday, Cotte said she had tried to save her son and that Champenois had pushed her away from the washing machine.

A neighbour who came to the apartment to help described Bastien as 'frozen, completely naked. He was all white, limp, practically like a toy.'

Cotte was initially charged with failing to prevent a crime, but this was changed to 'aiding and abetting murder and violence.'

She again denied any complicity in the crime in court on Tuesday.

Her lawyer, Gerard Zbili, described her as a 'broken woman who lost the child that she loved' but who was unable to protect him out of fear of her husband.

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Zbili added that Cotte had been regularly beaten by Champenois and claimed she had never taken part in punishments inflicted on Bastien.