Portugal Jails French Couple Before Trial Over Abandoning 2 Boys by Roadside
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 23
Portugal Jails French Couple Before Trial Over Abandoning 2 Boys by Roadside
7 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 23
A Portuguese judge ordered Marine R and Marc B held in pre-trial detention after prosecutors accused them of aggravated assault, endangerment and abandoning two boys aged 4 and 5.
The children were found crying beside a road near Alcacer do Sal, 100 km south of Lisbon, on Tuesday evening; the pair were arrested in Fatima on Thursday and had to appear before a judge within 48 hours.
Authorities said the boys had been missing from Colmar in eastern France since May 11, when their father reported them gone, triggering a search and a European arrest warrant.
One boy told the family of the motorist who found them that the children were blindfolded and sent to look for a hidden toy before their mother disappeared.
The boys are now with a French foster family in Lisbon and are expected to return to France as French and Portuguese authorities continue the case.
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