A French mother and her partner have been imprisoned in Portugal after allegedly abandoning two young children in the woods as part of a cruel game, leaving them terrified and alone.
A French mother has been sent to Portugal’s most notorious women’s prison after she and her partner allegedly abandoned two young children in the woods, according to The Metro. Marine Rousseau, aged 41, and stepfather Marc Ballabriga, 55, are accused of leaving Barthelemy, five, and Zacharie, three, near Alcacer do Sal in Portugal. Rousseau, who works as a sexologist, was taken to Tires Prison in Lisbon for pretrial detention on Saturday.
According to news reports, the couple blindfolded the children and told them to find a buried knife hidden in the ground. They claimed it was a game to find a hidden toy. When five-year-old Barthelemy dug up the knife and removed the blindfolds, their parents had disappeared.
The frightened boys were left with only a change of clothes, two bottles of water, biscuits, a pear and an orange. They were found wandering rural roads at 7pm on Tuesday by a local couple, Eugenia and Artur Quintas, who described the children as terrified and screaming.
At Tires Prison in Lisbon, Rousseau is in solitary confinement and cannot speak to other inmates. The prison, which often features in crime documentaries, holds around 450 inmates and houses serious offenders including murderers and child abusers. The facility does have a nursery for pregnant prisoners, a school, and craft areas.
Ballabriga has been sent to Setubal Prison. He is a former French police officer and also faces charges of aggravated assault.
Both are considered flight risks. They were arrested sitting at a cafe near Fatima on Thursday after police tracked them through France, Spain and Portugal. The two boys are now safe in foster care after being given medical checks.
