A Portuguese court has ordered the detention of a French woman and her boyfriend pending trial after they were accused of abandoning their 4- and 5-year-old sons by a roadside in the south of the country. The children claimed they were blindfolded and tricked into searching for toys before discovering their mother had disappeared.
The court in Setúbal, Portugal, has ordered the 41-year-old French woman and her 55-year-old French boyfriend to be held in prison pending trial. Both face serious charges of jointly abandoning the children and putting them in danger. The man is also charged with aggravated assault following the distressing incident in which the two boys, the woman’s biological sons, were left by the roadside.
This case has attracted significant attention in both France and Portugal since 19 May, when good Samaritans found two boys, aged just 4 and 5, crying by a roadside near the town of Alcácer do Sal, about 100 kilometers south of Lisbon. The boys had only backpacks containing food and water, but no identification documents.
The mother of the driver who found the boys told local media a heartbreaking account from one of the boys: “Their mother told them to close their eyes to play a game looking for hidden toys, but when they bravely opened their eyes, both their mother and the car had disappeared.”
Portuguese police traced and arrested the mother, identified as Marine R., and her boyfriend, Marc B., in the town of Fátima in central Portugal before bringing them to court. A police spokesperson said the couple appeared “cold and distant,” as if indifferent to what had happened.
During their court appearance, the man shouted “I love you” in French and yelled to reporters, “Portugal Armageddon,” while the woman hummed casually. Local newspapers reported that both frequently cursed and shouted insults to each other across their separate holding cells.
Investigations revealed the boys lived with their mother in Colmar, eastern France. Their father had visitation rights under supervision. On 11 May, the father reported the children missing, leading to a Europe-wide arrest warrant. Police noted the couple had no connections to Portugal.
The backgrounds of the suspects shocked the public. The woman’s LinkedIn profile lists her as a “sexologist specializing in trauma psychotherapy and human development.” Her 55-year-old boyfriend is a former French police officer who retired in 2010 and frequently posted conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic content online.
Currently, the two boys are in safe temporary care with a foster French family in Lisbon and arrangements are underway for their return to France.