Mum and stepdad of little boys ‘abandoned in woods’ caught on CCTV | UK | News
This is the moment a sexologist mother and her boyfriend were caught on camera at a gas station before they were accused of abandoning their two children in the woods. The French boys, aged three and five, are believed to have thought they were on a treasure hunt when they were allegedly released into the wilderness by their mother Marine Rousseau, 41, and her boyfriend Marc Ballabriga, 55.
Rousseau and Ballabriga are accused of driving the teenagers more than 1,200 miles from Colmar, France, to the forested coastal region of Comporta, just south of the capital Lisbon, and Alcácer do Sal, Portugal.
Chilling video footage taken before the family reached the forest area shows young children playing happily in the back of the car, unaware of the drama that awaits them. Authorities rescued two children who were found alone by locals on Tuesday, May 19.
Rousseau and Ballbriga were stopped by Portuguese police (GNR) at around 3.30pm yesterday (21 May) after a French-speaking pensioner suspected they might be the couple wanted after the abandonment of two children.
Publisher CNN Portugal The couple was reportedly seen having pastries and lattes at a cafe about 120 miles away from where the two children were found.
The children’s biological father is understood to have reported the children missing after they disappeared from their home in eastern France on May 11. Rousseau reportedly left another 16-year-old boy at home before driving to Portugal.
It is stated that Rousseau and 55-year-old Ballabriga are suspected of domestic violence and child abuse and may be extradited to be tried in France.
In clips posted on social media, Rossseau describes herself as “a sexologist who helps traumatized individuals regain peace and sexual satisfaction.”
According to local media in Portugal, the two children were discharged after evaluation at the hospital.
The Portuguese GNR (National Republican Guard) has described the French couple as “not very cooperative” since their arrest, but GNR police spokesman Carlos Canatario told Portuguese TV broadcaster SIC: “They are not being hostile, just quiet and reserved.”
The couple is expected to appear in court in Setúbal, Portugal, at a later date.
