Facts
The case concerns two girls, [S.] and [H.], who were victims of indecent assault by [M.], the spouse of their grandmother. The facts took place between 1989 and 1990. The girls suffered touching and caressing under their clothes, as well as kissing on the breasts and pubic area. M.'s actions lasted several months and had psychological repercussions on the two children.
The Court of the IIIrd District for the district of X. sentenced [M.] to 10 months' imprisonment with suspension and awarded 10,000 francs to [H.] and 5,000 francs to [S.] as compensation for moral damages. The Cantonal Court of the canton of Valais modified the first-instance judgment and sentenced [M.] to pay 1,000 francs to [S.] and 6,000 francs to H.
The plaintiffs lodged a nullity appeal, which was treated as a reform appeal by the SCC. They requested compensation of 15,000 francs for [H.] and 8,000 francs for S.
Considerations
The SCC examined the admissibility of the nullity appeal and decided to treat it as a reform appeal. It considered that the civil claims had not been judged at the same time as the criminal action, which made the nullity appeal inadmissible.
The SCC then examined the violation of art. 49 CO and considered that the compensation for moral damages had to be set according to the severity of the harm and the possibility of alleviating the moral pain. It recalled that compensation for moral damages is intended to repair damage that can only be reduced to a simple sum of money with difficulty.
The SCC distinguished S.'s case from H.'s and considered that M.'s actions had not had the same psychological repercussions on…