A court in Normandy has convicted a 38-year-old woman of
killing six of her newborn babies - a deed she acknowledged -
and sentenced her to 15 years in prison.
Hours before the verdict, Celine Lesage said what she had
told investigators, that she had killed her newborns at
birth.
Prosecutor Eric Bouillard had sought a 16-year prison
sentence for Lesage with no early release before half the
term was served.
Lesage was suspected of killing her six newborns between
August 2000 and September 2007. She was charged with
aggravated voluntary homicide and could have received a life
sentence.
"Yes, I killed the babies," she said under questioning ahead
of the verdict. She burst into tears.
"I did it but ... I can't explain it."
Four of the newborns were smothered and two others strangled
with small cords, a medical expert told the court at the
trial in Coutances, in Normandy's Manche region of northwest
France.
Lesage was arrested in 2007 after her partner at the time,
Luc Margueritte, discovered the tiny corpses in plastic
garbage bags in the basement of their apartment building in
Valognes.
He is the father of the last newborn and was a civil party in
the case.
On the fourth and final day of the trial, Lesage told the
court that "she had prepared nothing" ahead of the deaths but
nevertheless acknowledged that she had given birth in her
bedroom with plastic bags and cords next to her. Lesage has a
14-year-old son.
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