SouthernWorldwide.com – A French mother and her former law enforcement boyfriend have been arrested in Portugal after allegedly abandoning her two young sons, aged 3 and 5, in a remote forest. The children were reportedly left blindfolded as part of a “game.”
Marine Rousseau, 41, and Marc Ballabriga, 55, were taken into custody at a café near Lisbon. The incident occurred two days prior to their arrest, according to reports from Portuguese and French media outlets.
The owner of the café where the couple was apprehended, Jorge Lopes, described their demeanor to a news outlet. “They stayed sitting and didn’t seem nervous,” he stated. “They were searched and handcuffed without any stress at all. When I saw them so at ease in front of the authorities, I was astonished. It was as if they didn’t have blood running through their veins.”
The two young boys were later found crying and alone, approximately 125 miles from where they were allegedly abandoned. MetroUK reported on the discovery of the children.
Portuguese authorities confirmed in a statement that the children were taken to a local resident’s home for initial care. This was done due to their evident vulnerability, and they remained there until they could be transferred to a hospital unit.
The Public Ministry of Portugal announced that the boys were in good health and had been discharged from the hospital. The children are now in temporary foster care.
The couple faces charges of child endangerment and abandonment. Ballabriga, a former French policeman who left the force in 2010, has an additional charge of aggravated assault.
Both Rousseau and Ballabriga have been ordered held pending trial.
The children were reportedly discovered by Artur Quintas, a local baker, on May 19. He spotted them “screaming and crying” while stumbling along a main road, as reported by the New York Post.
The boys were carrying backpacks containing only clothes, water, and snacks.
Quintas recounted that the older brother explained their mother and her boyfriend took them into the forest and blindfolded them as part of a “game.” When their blindfolds were removed, the adults were gone.
The children’s biological father, who reported them missing on May 11, is actively working to bring them back to France. He expressed his thoughts to French broadcaster Ici Alsace TV on Monday.
“It’s only a matter of days before I get my children back,” he said. “I think about them every second since the Colmar police station contacted me to tell me they were missing. My children will have to rebuild their lives, just as I rebuilt mine.”
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He added, “And they don’t need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy.”
