In a case seen as unprecedented in France, a nanny from Algeria is being tried for poisoning the Jewish family she worked for in a suburb of Paris, according to French media.

The 42-year-old woman, who was in the country illegally after being served an order to leave, is accused of poisoning the food and drinks of the Jewish family that employed her as a live-in nanny, according to Le Parisien.

The suspect, known as Leïla Y., is believed to have been motivated by antisemitic beliefs.

She was detained in February 2024 and charged with “administering a harmful substance resulting in incapacity exceeding eight days, committed on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.” Her arrest has not been revealed publicly until now. Her trial was set to begin Tuesday at the Nanterre Criminal Court.

Investigators allege that shortly after she was hired in January 2024, the suspect began mixing toxic household cleaning agents into wine, juice, pasta and cosmetics belonging to the couple who hired her to care for their three children, aged 2, 5 and 7 at the time, according to the report.

To secure the job, investigators say, she provided a falsified Belgian identity card after her visa ran out, another offense for which she is also being prosecuted.

According to the report, the mother of the family first alerted police on January 30, telling officers she had tasted what seemed to be cleaning fluid in her wine. She reported that her makeup remover had burned her eyes and that grape juice in the refrigerator appeared to foam and smelled of bleach. A pasta dish that had tasted normal one day suddenly had a strong “perfume” aroma the next, she said.

Several days later, on February 3, the couple’s 5-year-old daughter told her mother she had seen the nanny pour a soapy substance into a bottle labeled “Jerusalem,” a brand of kosher alcohol.

Toxicology tests later detected polyethylene glycol and other chemical agents at very high levels in wine, whisky, fig liqueur, juice and pasta seized from the home, the report said. The substances were deemed harmful and potentially corrosive, capable of causing significant digestive tract injuries, the investigating magistrate wrote in the committal order.

An initial charge of attempted poisoning was later reclassified to “administering a harmful substance resulting in incapacity exceeding eight days” after experts said the chemicals were not capable of causing death.

Allegations of Jew-hatred

The case comes amid soaring levels of antisemitism in France since Hamas launched its war against Israel on October 7, 2023. The country saw 1,570 antisemitic incidents in 2024, nearly four times the average level before October 7, according to the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France (CRIF), the representative organization of French Jewish groups.

The suspect reportedly denied all allegations when first questioned by investigators. However, during a search of her home, she allegedly made remarks that were understood to be antisemitic in nature.

“Because they have money and power, I should never have worked for a Jewish woman,” she told officers, according to the report. “She only brought me trouble.”

However, her lawyer later said that her remarks reflected financial resentment and jealousy, not religious hatred. In subsequent interviews, the suspect described the act as a “punishment” and a “warning” after what she claimed were disputes over pay.

“I was angry, they disrespected me,” she told police, according to the report. “I knew it might cause them pain, but not enough to kill them.”

However, the report said, there is evidence that the suspect showed interest in her employers’ religion.

Police found that the suspect had conducted several Google searches for the family’s identities, “Berber Jewish women,” and “religious practices of Judaism,” in the month before she was hired.

The couple’s children also reported that the nanny often asked them questions about their religion, and one child said she saw the woman knocking repeatedly on mezuzot, small cases containing sacred parchment that are affixed to Jewish doorways. The nanny denied the behavior, according to the report.

A security guard at the kids’ Jewish school also told investigators the nanny had complained to him about the parents, calling them “stingy” and saying, “They have money, they can give it to me.”

The family, who requested complete anonymity, later told Le Parisien they live in fear since the incident. The mother described sleeping near the door with a stroller “ready to escape,” installing cameras inside and outside her home, and watching her children struggle with guilt, nightmares and fear about revealing their Jewish identity.

“We don’t want her to be able to return,” she said, saying the family hopes the suspect will be expelled from the country if she is convicted. “It’s not revenge. It’s to end the fear.”

Source: The Times of Israel