{"id":157126,"date":"2026-05-25T18:51:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/25\/the-father-of-two-boys-aged-3-and-5-who-were-abandoned-by-their-mother-and-stepfather-in-the-forest-in-portugal-breaks-his-silence\/"},"modified":"2026-05-25T18:53:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:53:58","slug":"the-father-of-two-boys-aged-3-and-5-who-were-abandoned-by-their-mother-and-stepfather-in-the-forest-in-portugal-breaks-his-silence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/05\/25\/the-father-of-two-boys-aged-3-and-5-who-were-abandoned-by-their-mother-and-stepfather-in-the-forest-in-portugal-breaks-his-silence\/","title":{"rendered":"The father of two boys, aged 3 and 5, who were abandoned by their mother and stepfather in the forest in Portugal, breaks his silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The devastated father of two children reportedly abandoned in the Portuguese forests by their mother and stepfather has spoken out for the first time. <\/p>\n

A baker going to work near Alc\u00e1cer do Sal found two young boys “distressed” and “crying” on the side of the road in a wooded area.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsign up for Sun<\/span> Newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Barth\u00e9lemy and Zachary, aged five and three, were found screaming on a Portuguese rural road<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Children with a local police officer<\/span> Credit: Newsflash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Police say Barth\u00e9lemy and Zachary, aged five and three respectively, were abandoned by their mother Marine Rousseau, 41, and stepfather Mark Ballabriga, 55, under the cruel guise of a treasure hunt.<\/p>\n

This couple allegedly blindfolded two boys First driving<\/span> Close. <\/a><\/p>\n

Breaking his silence for the first time, the father of the two boys said he believed it would only be a matter of days before he would see his children again. <\/p>\n

“It’s only a matter of days before I can get my children back,” he said. <\/p>\n

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twisted dad<\/p>\n

Stepfather caught on CCTV ‘beating boy in cafe’ before throwing children into forest<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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holes horror<\/p>\n

Boat carrying 12 people including children capsizes in tourist cave and two injured<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEver since the Colmar police station contacted me to tell me they were missing, I think about them every moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The father \u2013 who has requested to remain anonymous \u2013 speaking to French TV channel ICI Alsace TV, said he had kept his phone next<\/span> He stayed up at all hours of the day waiting for the Portuguese authorities to confirm that he could take his children back. <\/p>\n

She said, “My children will have to rebuild their lives, just as I have rebuilt mine, and they do not need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy.” <\/p>\n

\u201cI’m not trying to defend or minimize what happened \u2013 it’s extremely shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Credit: Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The boys received changed clothes and very little food.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ballabriga as soon as he leaves the court<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Marine Rousseau being taken from the court house<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both boys – who were found on Tuesday – are currently in temporary foster care until arrangements can be made for their return to France. <\/p>\n

French authorities have also lodged a request for the couple’s return. <\/p>\n

After divorcing Russo two years ago, the father reportedly has limited supervised visitation rights with the boys. <\/p>\n

He told French media that he would speak again only when he was “reunited” with his children.<\/p>\n

Police captured Russo and Ballabriga on Thursday about 100 miles north of where they allegedly abandoned the young children. <\/p>\n

A French-speaking pensioner was chatting to the couple and after discovering the boys he became suspicious that the two were being sought by the police.<\/p>\n

The family went on a road trip to Portugal after living together in Colmar in eastern France. <\/p>\n

Russo has described herself on social media as a “sexologist” who helps traumatized individuals regain peace and sexual satisfaction.<\/p>\n

He and his new companion were taken hostage at O \u200b\u200bVasco Caf\u00e9 in Fatima. <\/p>\n

On Saturday, Russo was heard singing to himself in a Setubal court ahead of his case proceedings. <\/p>\n

The hearing continued till midnight. <\/p>\n

She and Ballabriga are facing charges of child abandonment and endangerment. <\/p>\n

Ballabriga also faces additional charges of aggravated assault. <\/p>\n

The pair were kept in pre-trial detention until their next court appearance. <\/p>\n

Police say the couple told the children they were playing a game called “Drive the Devil Away.”<\/p>\n

They told the boys to remove their blindfolds only if they found the knives which the couple claimed were buried in the soil.<\/p>\n

While the children complied, the couple allegedly tried to make up for it and left them to their fate by giving them nothing except a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and two bottles of water.<\/p>\n

When Alexandre Quintas discovered the children they did not have any form of identification.<\/p>\n

The local baker informed the police about this at around 7 pm on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n

“I immediately realized that they were left out because of the backpacks, the way they were made,” he said. <\/p>\n

The boys were reported missing by their father on May 11 after they disappeared from their home in Colmar.<\/p>\n

Russo is understood to have left another 16-year-old at home before embarking on the 1,365-mile journey with two young boys and her boyfriend, driving across Spain.<\/p>\n

The search for the family intensified before they entered Portugal through the city of Miranda do Douro in the northeastern district of Bragan\u00e7a.<\/p>\n

The couple face possible extradition to France before facing trial in Portugal due to a European arrest warrant issued by their home country.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The devastated father of two children reportedly abandoned in the Portuguese forests by their mother and stepfather has spoken out for the first time. A baker going to work near Alc\u00e1cer do Sal found two young boys “distressed” and “crying” on the side of the road in a wooded area. sign up for Sun Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157129,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[2599,4565,1773,2084,111,3469,307,12027,632,7303],"class_list":["post-157126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-news","tag-abandoned","tag-aged","tag-boys","tag-breaks","tag-father","tag-forest","tag-mother","tag-portugal","tag-silence","tag-stepfather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157132,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157126\/revisions\/157132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}