Portuguese Court Orders Detention of French Woman and Partner in Child Abandonment Case

A court in the Portuguese city of Setubal on Saturday ordered pre-trial detention for a 41-year-old French woman and her 55-year-old partner on charges of aggravated assault, endangerment and abandonment of two boys. The children, ages 4 and 5, were found crying beside a road near Alcacer do Sal on Tuesday evening. They had backpacks containing food and water but no identity documents.

Portuguese authorities arrested the couple Thursday in Fatima and brought them before an investigating judge in Setubal on Friday. The court held a two-day hearing before ordering detention. A GNR spokesman, Carlos Canatario, told Portuguese television that the pair showed a distant attitude during questioning.

The man twice shouted "I love you" in French upon arrival at the court, and the woman hummed a melody. As the man left the courthouse after midnight Friday, he shouted "Portugal Armageddon" toward journalists. On Saturday morning, officers kept the pair inside the transport vehicle until it entered the courthouse garage.

The boys had been living with their mother in Colmar, France. Their father reported them missing on May 11, prompting French authorities to issue a European arrest warrant. One boy told the motorist who found them that they had been blindfolded and told to look for a hidden toy.

When the blindfolds were removed, their mother and her car were gone. The children have been placed with a French foster family in Lisbon pending return to France. The couple has no known prior connection to Portugal.