French Mother Marine R And Partner Marc B Remanded In Custody After Abandoning Boys In Portugal

A French woman and her partner were arrested in Portugal after two young boys were found crying and alone near a road in the south of the country near Alcacer do Sal, about 100km (60 miles) south of Lisbon.

The BBC said the boys were found on Tuesday evening beside a road near Alcacer do Sal, and it reported that a judge ordered the couple to be placed in pre-trial detention on Saturday.

BBC

DW reported the children were ages 3 and 5 and were found Tuesday along a road near Alcacer do Sal carrying backpacks with food, water and a change of clothes.

Portuguese authorities said the boys had been blindfolded and led into a forest under the guise of playing a game, and the BBC reported that the mother of the motorist who found the children said one boy told her they had been blindfolded and told to look for a hidden toy.

The BBC also reported that the woman and her partner were arrested in Fatima on Thursday and that they were identified by authorities as Marine R and Marc B.

After a two-day hearing, Euronews said the court in the port city of Setúbal ordered Marine Rousseau, 41, and Marc Ballagriga, 55, to be placed in pretrial detention for the crimes of aggravated assault, endangerment and abandonment of the boys.

The BBC reported that the couple were both accused of child endangerment and abandonment, while the man faced an additional charge of aggravated assault.

BBC

Euronews said the Public Prosecutor's Office decided to take the children into foster care, handing them over to a foster family, with the intervention and monitoring of the fostering organisation.

The BBC reported that the children were with a French foster family in Lisbon and were expected to return to France.

France 24 said the court ordered the 41-year-old woman and the 55-year-old man to be placed in pretrial detention for the crimes of child endangerment and abandonment after a two-day hearing, and it said the man was also charged with aggravated assault against one of the children.

The BBC said the father reported the boys missing on 11 May, prompting authorities to begin searching for the mother and children and a European arrest warrant being issued.

France 24 reported that the couple was arrested on Thursday in Fátima, 170 kilometres from where the children were abandoned, and it said they were brought before an investigating judge Friday at the court in Setubal.

Euronews said the couple was arrested on Thursday in Fátima, 170 kilometres from where the children were abandoned, and it reported that they appeared to have a very distant attitude, with a GNR spokesman telling SIC the pair appeared "detached".

The BBC described the moment they were led into court on Saturday, saying the man shouted "I love you" in French and the boys' mother sang.

DW reported that the children did not have identification documents and that a passerby and his wife rescued the boys and took them to a police station.