A mother and stepfather accused of abandoning their children in a wooded area under the pretense of a ‘game’ were calmly apprehended at a café, according to recent reports. Marine Rousseau and Marc Ballabriga were taken into custody by authorities two days after allegedly leaving their five-year-old son, Barthélémy, and three-year-old Zacharie to fend for themselves in the countryside of Portugal.
The children were found distressed, holding only a water bottle and some fruit, on a rural road near Alcacer do Sal on Tuesday. Following a search operation, their vehicle was located parked outside a café in Fátima, approximately 112 miles away from where the kids were discovered.
Detectives disclosed that the couple made little effort to conceal themselves at the café on the day of their arrest. Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Canatário, a spokesperson for the military police, mentioned that Rousseau, 41, and Ballabriga, 55, spent hours leisurely enjoying drinks on the café terrace before being approached by the authorities.
The suspects, facing charges of child abuse, endangerment, and abandonment, reportedly exhibited a lack of cooperation and appeared reserved during their arrest. Meanwhile, the children’s father, who had reported them missing from their residence in France ten days prior, is en route to Portugal to reunite with his sons placed under temporary care.
On the day of the incident, Rousseau purportedly informed her children that they were embarking on a game to locate a ‘hidden toy’, which involved blindfolding them and having them dig in the ground using their hands. Upon removing their blindfolds, the children discovered that their mother, stepfather, and the vehicle had vanished.
Several hours later, the boys were discovered by Alexandre Quintas, a local baker and father of nine, who provided them with care at his bakery. Alexandre and his mother, Eugénia Quintas, managed to communicate with the boys with the help of a local doctor fluent in French. The five-year-old recounted being abandoned in the “forest” by their parents, equipped with an orange, a pear, and a water bottle each.
