In a shocking turn of events, a sexologist mother reportedly left her two young children alone in a forest located 1,500 miles away from their home, while her partner expressed love for her in court through shouting as she sang opera.
Marine Rousseau, aged 41, and her partner Marc Ballabriga, aged 55, are facing accusations of abandoning their three-year-old and five-year-old children in a forest in Portugal. Authorities located the parents at a cafe approximately 48 hours after the children were found alone. The investigation began after the kids were discovered crying on a rural road nearly 125 miles from where Rousseau and Ballabriga were located.
Hailing from Colmar, France, the couple was apprehended at O Vasco near Lisbon, Portugal, after allegedly blindfolding the children in the woods for a hunt and leaving them there. The incident is believed to have occurred between the towns of Alcacer do Sal and Comporta.
Rousseau and Ballabriga, who is the stepfather of the children, were arrested on Thursday and taken to a police station in Palmela, 100 miles away, before appearing in court on Friday.
Upon their court appearance, the mother was heard singing as she entered the Setubal courthouse, while her partner repeatedly shouted “Je vous aime” (English: “I love you”) in French as he was escorted out of a police vehicle in front of her.
According to sources, Ballabriga displayed violent behavior upon being detained, shouting at officers and attempting to damage his cell, while Rousseau spent hours singing.
The couple is now facing charges of domestic violence and child abandonment, with a judge expected to make a decision on their remand to prison on Saturday. Prior to their arrest, Rousseau and Ballabriga had been declared fugitives by France.
The father of the two boys had reported them missing on May 11 after they disappeared from their residence in Colmar, located near the French-German border.
