Woman accused of scalding child with boiling water granted bail

A judge has granted bail to a Quebec woman charged with aggravated assault after she allegedly scalded a 10-year-old Black boy with hot water earlier this month.

Stéphanie Borel, 46, was released under a number of conditions that include living with her son, and staying away from the home and school of the young victim and from a witness, whose identities are protected by a publication ban.

On Oct. 2, police on Montreal’s South Shore arrested Borel but released her and ordered her to appear in court at a later date.

The boy sustained second-degree burns to his face and upper body, and his parents and other community members called out what they said was the woman’s lenient treatment by the justice system.

Following the outcry, she was arrested on Oct. 11 and had been detained until today’s bail hearing.

She told the court that since her detention, her landlord cancelled her lease and she lost her job as an orderly.

Quebec court Judge Serge Delisle ordered her release after hearing from the defence and the Crown. Her case will return before a judge on Jan. 23, 2025.

The decision on Oct. 2 to release her drew intense criticism, with an advocacy group accusing police of being lenient toward a woman accused of assaulting a Black child. The Red Coalition, a Montreal-based lobby group that focuses on fighting racism, wrote a letter to Longueuil Mayor Catherine Fournier and police Chief Marc Leduc calling for Borel to be taken into custody.

“We ask you to consider, for a moment, if the roles had been reversed — if a Black man had thrown boiling water on a 10-year-old white girl,” wrote executive director Joel DeBellefeuille. “It is hard to imagine that he would have been allowed to go free while awaiting trial. Instead, he would likely have been detained immediately, facing serious legal consequences from the outset.”