COUTANCES, FRANCE: A 38-year-old woman acknowledged today killing six of her newborns, whose corpses were found in plastic bags in her basement, at the opening of a chilling trial in northwest France.

Celine Lesage faces life in prison if convicted by the jury in the courthouse in Valognes, near the Atlantic coast, on charges of aggravated homicide.

Lesage bowed her head and avoided the gaze of those present in the courtroom while the charges were read. Afterward, she said in a soft voice, ”I acknowledge the facts.”

Chief Judge Herve Locu pressed her to find out whether the babies had been stillborn or born alive.

After repeated questioning, Lesage responded: ”They were alive.”

She was arrested in 2007 after her partner at the time discovered the corpses in plastic garbage bags in the basement of their apartment building in Valognes.

Her lawyer Veronique Carre said Lesage ”does not contest the facts … but isn’t explaining them either.” Several medical and psychological experts are expected to testify in the four-day trial.

”We are here to try to understand you before judging you,” the judge told Lesage at the trial today.

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