A French mother and her partner are learning that in Portugal, 'play hide and seek by the highway' is not considered a valid parenting strategy. A court has ruled they'll remain in pre-trial detention after allegedly abandoning her two young boys on a roadside near Alcacer do Sal, about 100km (60 miles) south of Lisbon.
The boys, aged four and five, were found crying beside the road on Tuesday evening. Their alleged abandoners, identified as Marine R and Marc B, were arrested in Fatima on Thursday. As they were led into court on Saturday, the man shouted "I love you" in French and the mother sang. A judge was apparently unimpressed by the serenade and ordered pre-trial detention.
Both face charges of child endangerment and abandonment, while Marc B gets the bonus feature of aggravated assault. The children are now with a French foster family in Lisbon and are expected to return to France. Meanwhile, the couple reportedly can be heard in their separate cells "shouting at each other" - proving that even incarceration can't stop a good argument.
A motorist's mother told Portuguese media that one boy said they were blindfolded and told to find a hidden toy - only to discover their mother had vanished. Because nothing says 'fun family game' like being abandoned on a Portuguese roadside. The couple's backgrounds? Marine R's LinkedIn describes her as a sexologist specializing in "body-oriented practices, psychotrauma and developmental dynamics." Marc B is a former French gendarmerie officer who left the force in 2010. Apparently neither skill set covered 'basic childcare.'