Update: Parents win nanny spy case
Couple cleared of abusing nanny's right to privacy after hiding recorder in baby's teddy to check on abuse
A COUPLE have been found not guilty of abusing a nanny's right to privacy after hiding a microphone in their child's teddy bear - to check on whether she was abusing him.
The court in Lyon said the parents had acted in the interests of the child, and not with an intent to intrude on the nanny's private life.
Seven month old Lucas' parents acted after the boy returned home "grumpy, thirsty and with a red backside" from his time with the nanny in Couzon-au-Mont-d'Or (Rhône).
They were worried and said they wanted to check how he was being treated.
During eight hours of recording they heard the youngster for only one hour and it was later discovered that the little boy had not been kept in the main living quarters of the nanny's house, but in an underground annexe, beside the garage.
After a police investigation - which included a body-search of the nanny - the prosecution did not proceed with a case.
The parents' lawyer, Béatrice Bertrand, said the nanny spent her time on the phone, but baby Lucas "was left without babyphone, without supervision, without anyone checking even if he had eaten his lunch".
Xavier Moroz, lawyer for the 49 year old nanny, said: "It's a contractual fault, as the contract stipulated that the child should be in an upstairs bedroom - but to jump from that to the conclusion that he has been deprived of care, to lodge a complaint and instigate a search... all on the basis of secret recordings. The end does not justify the means: it is an intolerable violation of private life."
