A Portuguese court has ordered the return of two young French boys to France, following their abandonment last week in southern Portugal by their mother and her partner. The Setúbal District Court confirmed the decision, which was made under judicial cooperation between the two countries.
The children, Zacharie and Barthélemy, aged four and five, were found blindfolded and left in a bush near the road linking Alcácer do Sal to Comporta. Their mother, Marine Rousseau, 41, and her partner, Marc Ballabriga, 55, told the boys they were playing a game where they had to find a hidden toy. The couple then fled to Spain before crossing into Portugal.
French Authorities Take Custody
According to the court document, French authorities have decided to place the boys in the care of social services in the Alsace region. This interim measure allows officials to evaluate the suitability of other family members, particularly the children's father, to take custody. The father currently has limited and supervised visiting rights, which may have prompted the assessment.
The Portuguese court ruled that the children should be returned to their state of habitual residence, leaving the next steps to French authorities. The father, who has not been identified publicly, wrote an open letter to Ici Alsace TV, expressing his anguish and hope: "I think about them every second since the Colmar police station notified me of their disappearance. It's only a matter of days before I can get them back."
Arrest and Legal Proceedings
Rousseau and Ballabriga were arrested in a café in Fátima, more than 200 kilometres from where the boys were abandoned. They appeared before the Setúbal court on Friday, where they staged a bizarre scene: Rousseau sang opera while Ballabriga shouted "je vous aime" at police and journalists. Both are now in pre-trial detention, indicted on multiple charges related to the abandonment.
Before leaving for Spain with the two younger children, Rousseau had left her eldest son, a teenager, alone at home. This prompted the children's father to accuse her of kidnapping and abandonment. The couple then crossed into Portugal and abandoned the two boys.
National Hero and Community Response
The boys were found by Alexandre Quintas, a local baker who has been hailed as a national hero in Portugal. Quintas took the children home, where they played with his own children, and alerted the police. He also helped connect officers with a French citizen who translated the boys' testimonies.
The case has drawn widespread attention across Europe, highlighting issues of child welfare and cross-border judicial cooperation. For more on related legal challenges in France, see our coverage of French Families Sue TikTok for Algorithmic 'Abuse of Weakness'.
As the boys await their return to France, the focus remains on their well-being and the legal proceedings against their mother and her partner. The father's hopes for reunion underscore the complex family dynamics at play.
