Colorful eggs bearing the name of the daycare "Garderêve." (Photo taken from the daycare's Facebook page)
The Criminal Court of Mount Lebanon, led by Judge Rabih Houssami, sentenced Jenny Helou, a childcare worker at the Garderêve daycare in Jdeideh (Metn) to four years in prison on Thursday. The case of child abuse went viral last summer after videos from inside the nursery were leaked to the press. The nursery's owner, Tony Mehanna, and the cleaning helper were each sentenced to three years in prison. The judgment can be appealed to the Court of Cassation.
In July 2023, leaked videos of horrific child abuse at the Garderêve day care in Lebanon shocked the parents of the children enrolled, the wider public in Lebanon and sparked widespread outrage. The footage showed employees force-feeding infants, beating them, and laughing while children cried in the background. The Ministry of Health immediately shut down the facility.
Mount Lebanon's general prosecutor, Ghada Aoun, swiftly filed charges after the videos surfaced. The employee who was filmed abusing the children was charged with attempted murder, and the nursery owner with complicity.