Warning: This story may be upsetting for some readers. A Longueuil, Que., woman accused of throwing boiling water on a 10-year-old boy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault Thursday morning. Stéphanie Borel, 46, was charged after scalding the boy, who was her neighbour, last fall. She was arrested and released on Oct. 2, 2024, before being rearrested Oct. 11. The child’s identity is protected by a publication ban. According to the agreed statement of facts, there was no evidence that Borel, who is white, targeted the boy, who is Black, based on race. The document says Borel’s home was near the boy’s elementary school and for several months children rang her doorbell to play “ding-dong ditch” after school. Borel’s victim didn’t have time to ring her doorbell before she opened the door and threw a container filled with boiling water on him, saying “It’s hot, huh! Get lost.” The boy’s face, torso and shoulders were scalded — documents say four per cent of his body surface area was burned to the second degree, but he did not need surgery. ‘There is a woman who burned me’ After the incident in 2024, the boy’s father told CTV News he came through the door screaming. “‘Daddy! Daddy! There is a woman who burned me,’ he said. I turned around, the skin on his face was falling off,” said the father at the time. Following her arrest, Borel was released awaiting further court appearances. But the next day, the boy and his friends noticed the woman was filming them with her cellphone while they went to school. She had a sign on her door saying, “Smile, you’re being filmed.” Borel then tried to file a complaint against her neighbours for harassment. During this call, she told police she was aware complaints had been filed against her. She said the door-ringing had gone on for months, and she claimed that she did not know the boy was a child before splashing him with scalding water. She added that the act was not premeditated and she had been heating water to put in her bathroom pipes. She said she had been subjected to “harassment” by the neighbourhood and the “ding-dong ditch” games “stressed her cats.” According to witnesses, including the boy’s parents, Borel never brought up the issue of the children’s game before to parents or police. Borel was rearrested for aggravated assault. She was released on bail Oct. 31. She was prohibited from being within 500 metres of her old address and the nearby school. She was not allowed near any parks or community centres where children are expected to be present and cannot communicate with the victim or his family. She also has been seeing a doctor and psychologist. The case was highly publicized and sparked fierce criticism, with rights groups accusing the police of being lenient toward a woman accused of assaulting a Black child. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 28.
