Mother and stepfather placed in pretrial detention after abandoning French children in Portuga

The mother and stepfather who abandoned the two French boys in Portugal have been placed in pretrial detention. The measure was ordered this Saturday after they appeared before a judge at the Setúbal Court. They are accused of aggravated bodily harm and of exposing and abandoning the two children.

“The grounds for the coercive measure are all present to varying degrees,” said the presiding judge of the Setúbal district court while announcing the judge’s decision. The boys’ mother will be taken to Tires Prison, while her partner will be sent to Setúbal Prison.

The court found strong evidence against the defendant, Marine Rousseau, regarding the commission of two counts of aggravated child exposure or abandonment. As for the defendant, Marc Ballagriga, the court found strong evidence of two counts of child exposure or abandonment and one count of aggravated assault, an offence punishable by up to 12 years in prison. The stepfather is suspected of assaulting the youngest boy, who is three years old. The court also stressed that the primary duty of care toward the children rested with the mother.

From what I saw on TV, they will be separated from the other prisoners, at least for now, to avoid any reprisals against them, especially since the case is causing quite a stir in Portugal.

Honestly, I’ve never seen a case like this here. Blindfolding the children in the forest and sending them to look for toys, and then running away, is something that feels like Hansel and Gretel… it’s just surreal.

Also, today it was reported on TV that people saw the stepfather hitting the 3-year-old child hours before they abandoned them

The best thing that could have happened to these kids is being abandoned by these two. The only thing worse than being abandoned by ppl like this is being forced to live with them. 

This bitch is going to Tires. A friend of mine who is a teacher there told me those ladies have a very strict code of conduct regarding cases of child abuse. If she goes to gen pop she’s going to have a really bad time. As she should.

Fucking horrible people!!! You had options to safely place them in government care.

I hope they get a long time to rot in jail!

I’m not a father, but I have two nieces. I don’t understand how someone could abandon their child and – to be honest – it really makes me angry. Like, not just really pissed, properly “I am glad they found them before I did” angry. And I don’t like that feeling at all.

Truly horrible people with no soul. Don’t know how people can be that heartless. Glad the kids are safe now.

Worse again because the Rousseau i know would do anything to find her daughter who was Lost in the jungle, and she spent more than 16 years looking if I recall correctly

Portuga?? Where the hek is Portuga??????