A sexologist mum and her partner have been arrested after allegedly abandoning her two young boys nearly 1,500 miles from their home.
The Arrest
Portuguese officers tracked the French couple, Marine Rousseau, 41, and former police officer Marc Ballabriga, 55, to a café terrace in the city of Fátima on Thursday afternoon. CCTV footage shows them being escorted to a waiting car after enjoying lattes and pastries at O Vasco café, a 90-minute drive north of Lisbon. Witnesses described the pair as calm and unbothered when police arrived. Café owner Jorge Lopes said: “They acted as if nothing had happened. They stayed sitting and didn’t seem nervous. They were searched and handcuffed without any stress at all. It was as if they didn’t have blood running through their veins.” A customer called António said they were “chatting and laughing”, and another client reported that Ballabriga told him as he sat down: “Look at this. I’m here in the sun and the sun is looking at me.”
The couple were taken from Fátima to a police station in Palmela, about 100 miles away. Portuguese police confirmed in a statement: “The Republican National Guard located and detained today, May 21, in Fátima, a 55-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman suspected of committing the crimes of domestic violence and exposure and abandonment.”
The Abandonment
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, May 19, Rousseau’s young sons — Barthelemy, five, and Zacharie, three — were found crying and alone in a rural woodland area near Alcácer do Sal, about 125 miles south of where the couple were arrested. A local bakery worker, Alexandre Quintas, discovered the brothers “crying and shouting” and alerted police around 7pm. The children had backpacks containing an orange, a pear and a bottle of water each, but no identification documents.
According to the children’s accounts, their parents had blindfolded them and told them they were playing a game — either to “drive away the devil” or to find a “hidden toy”. The children were instructed to dig in the dirt to find a buried knife that would allow them to cut off the blindfolds. Once the blindfolds were removed, the children discovered they were alone and wandered for several hours. The couple allegedly told them they could only take the covers off once they had found the knives that had been claimed to be buried. While the boys obeyed, the couple reportedly drove off, leaving them with nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and two bottles of water.
A restaurant worker named Teresa Pinto, at Rustikus in Alcácer do Sal where Rousseau and Ballabriga were with the boys shortly before the alleged abandonment, said: “They arrived just after midday on Tuesday and were sat on the terrace for about two hours. The little ones were playing football and several times the ball went towards the street but neither adult got out of their chairs to stop it.”
The two boys were taken to a local resident’s home for initial care and then transferred to a hospital unit. Portugal’s Public Ministry said: “The two boys are in good health and were discharged from hospital on Thursday.” They have been placed in temporary care with a French foster family in Lisbon. French authorities have requested their return to France, and the children’s father is reportedly on his way to Portugal.
The father had reported the boys missing from their home in Colmar, northeastern France, on May 11, after they vanished. Rousseau, who also left a 16-year-old child at home before embarking on the 1,365-mile journey with her two young sons and Ballabriga, drove across Spain before entering Portugal via the town of Miranda do Douro in the northeastern district of Bragança. The couple were filmed filling up their car at a petrol station during their journey. French authorities have opened a judicial inquiry into child neglect and child abduction concerning the 16-year-old son left behind.
The Couple’s Behaviour
During transport to the police station after their arrest, the couple were overheard by a French-speaking Portuguese officer hatching a plan to “pretend they were crazy”. Portuguese public service broadcaster RTP reported that the conversation, allegedly held in the car from Fátima to Palmela, had been made known to court officials.
At a court hearing in Setúbal on Friday, Ballabriga repeatedly shouted in French: “Je vous aime” — “I love you” — as he was bundled out of a police van. He also shouted “Armageddon!” according to reports. Rousseau was overheard singing as she was escorted into court. Sources told Portuguese broadcaster SIC that Ballabriga had acted violently after being taken into custody, shouting at officers and trying to damage his cell, while his girlfriend spent hours singing. One source described the behaviour as “a joint strategy to escape the clutches of the law”.
Despite these outbursts, GNR police spokesman Carlos Canatario said after the arrests: “They’re not being hostile. They’re simply being silent and very reserved.” Court officials in Setúbal have ordered the provisional detention of both Rousseau and Ballabriga pending trial, citing risks of flight, disruption of proceedings, continuation of criminal activity and public order. European arrest warrants have been issued, and the couple will appear before Portugal’s Court of Appeal regarding extradition.
Ballabriga, a former police officer who left the force in 2010, was convicted in 2010 of harassment and domestic violence against the mother of his daughter and received a nine-month suspended sentence. He reportedly resigned from the police due to depression, and some reports suggest he may have psychiatric disorders. He has also posted conspiracy theories online. Rousseau, who on social media describes herself as a “sexologist who helps traumatised individuals to regain serenity and sexual fulfilment”, allegedly had legal custody of the children. The couple now face charges of domestic violence, exposure to abandonment and child endangerment; Ballabriga also faces an additional charge of aggravated assault.
Portugal’s Public Ministry confirmed that the two boys are in good health and were discharged from hospital on Thursday.
