September 6, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
The Public Information and Press Relations Bureau within the Prosecutors Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice is authorized to bring to public knowledge the following:
On August 30, 2011, prosecutors from the Prosecutors Office attached to the Huși Local Court closed the indictment for the prosecution of the defendants Dănuț CERCHEZ and Irina CERCHEZ for illegal deprivation of liberty.
The evidence produced in the case during the criminal investigation revealed the following facts:
The defendants Dănuț CERCHEZ and Irina CERCHEZ are parents to the minors C.G.M., aged 8, and C.M., aged 4. Not having regular employment, the defendants would make a living working as dailies for various persons. On August 1, 2011, when they returned home from work around 08:30 p.m., they found that their eldest son was not at home, which had happened before. They went looking for him in the surrounding areas. They could not find him so they went back home where they found the minor who had returned in the meantime. After applying verbal and physical correction towards him for having left home, the defendants tied him with a 2-meter chain to a scraper in the yard and left for the bar nearby where they drank alcohol and bought some food.
In the meantime, the minor who was immobilized in the yard kept crying. This alerted a neighbor who in turn alerted the police. The parents returned home and shortly after, around 23:00 p.m., the police arrived and found the minor C.G.M. chained in the yard.
The legal medical examination revealed that the minor had excoriations that could have been produced by hitting or scratching most probably with blunt objects.
The Child Protection Directorate in Vaslui was also notified during the criminal investigation and a representative of the Social Assistance Service was designated to supervise the way in which the two defendants fulfill their parental obligations towards the minor. It has also been determined that the minor may continue to live together with his parents.
The file has been forwarded to the Huși Local Court which has jurisdiction over the case.