{"id":3471,"date":"2026-05-26T09:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/inside-portugals-toughest-womens-prison-where-mum-who-abandoned-children-in-woods-is-being-held\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T09:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:05:57","slug":"inside-portugals-toughest-womens-prison-where-mum-who-abandoned-children-in-woods-is-being-held","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/inside-portugals-toughest-womens-prison-where-mum-who-abandoned-children-in-woods-is-being-held\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Portugal&#8217;s toughest women&#8217;s prison where mum who &#8216;abandoned children in woods&#8217; is being held"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_1c1e1b\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Marine Rousseau, 41, is accused of leaving her two sons to fend for themselves in the woods after allegedly leaving them blindfolded and telling them they were playing a &#8216;game&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37204496\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Marine Rousseau, 41, is being held in a women's prison after being accused of abandonment\" loading=\"eager\" sizes=\"(max-width: 508px) 508px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204496.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204496.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s508\/0_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 508w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204496.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615\/0_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204496.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200f\/0_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Marine Rousseau, 41, is being held in a women's prison after being accused of abandonment\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Marine Rousseau, 41, is being held in a women&#8217;s prison after being accused of abandonment<cite aria-label=\"Image: RUI MINDERICO\/EPA\/Shutterstock\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: RUI MINDERICO\/EPA\/Shutterstock)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">A 41-year-old mum accused of <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"abandoning her two young sons Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/parents-abandoned-kids-woods-game-37194988\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">abandoning her two young sons <\/a>is being held in a &#8216;tough&#8217; women&#8217;s prison where inmates deliberately start fires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Marine Rousseau and her boyfriend Marc Ballabriga, 55, are facing charges of endangerment and abandonment after a five-year-old boy and his three-year-old brother were discovered walking along a rural road in the Monte Novo do Sul, a remote area between Comporta and Alc\u00e1cer do Sal in <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"PortugalLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/portugal\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Portugal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">According to authorities, the boys were <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"left blindfolded in a woods near an abandoned bus stopLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/children-boys-abandoned-woods-portugal-37201409\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">left blindfolded in a woods near an abandoned bus stop<\/a>, and had only a couple of pieces of fruit and a bottle of water with them. A local baker found the children and immediately alerted the police, who are being placed with a foster family until they are returned to <a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"FranceLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/france\" rel=\"follow\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">France<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37204498\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37204498\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The two children were found walking along a rural road\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204498.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094754.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204498.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/1_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094754.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204498.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/1_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094754.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204498.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094754.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The two children were found walking along a rural road\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The two children were found walking along a rural road<cite aria-label=\"Image: GNR\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: GNR)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_9d2dcd\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37201409\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/children-boys-abandoned-woods-portugal-37201409\" tabindex=\"0\">Father of young boys found &#8216;abandoned in Portuguese woods&#8217; by his ex-wife breaks silence<\/a><\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_9d2dcd\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37194988\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/parents-abandoned-kids-woods-game-37194988\" tabindex=\"0\">Parents who &#8216;abandoned kids in woods in sick game&#8217; found sipping drinks at cafe<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The pair were arrested by the Portuguese National Guard (GNR) on Thursday, while sitting &#8216;calmly&#8217; at a caf\u00e9 terrace near the pilgrimage town of F\u00e1tima, around 120 miles from where the children were found.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">On Saturday, Rousseau sang to herself as she was brought into court. An investigating judge remanded remanded to the Tires women&#8217;s prison, located about 12 miles west of Lisbon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The notorious multi-security prison houses several hundred inmates, including both pre-trial detainees and convicted offenders, and handles many of Portugal&#8217;s most severe criminal cases. It also has a history of safety issues, which have endangered prisoners and guards alike.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37204499\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37204499\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"They had only a change of clothes and a few items of fruit with them when they were found\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204499.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094747.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204499.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094747.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204499.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094747.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204499.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Screenshot-2026-05-25-at-094747.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"They had only a change of clothes and a few items of fruit with them when they were found\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">They had only a change of clothes and a few items of fruit with them when they were found<cite aria-label=\"Image: GNR\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: GNR)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Last year, an inmate intentionally started a fire in her cell that resulted in five female officers being rushed to hospital for smoke inhalation. The prisoner involved had recently been transferred to Tires after being involved in previous assaults at another facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">That same year, Portuguese broadcaster RTP told of two suspected drug overdoses at the facility, including one which resulted in the death of an inmate. The chief prison officer was dismissed in light of the reports, pending an investigation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Unions also reported more than a dozen attacks on guards by inmates in 2024. Other past incidents at the facility include a widespread Covid outbreak in 2020 that infected over 120 inmates, as well as the deaths of prisoners in their cells in 2018 and 2021.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button type=\"button\" class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-37204500\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"37204500\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.56\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Stepdad Marc Ballabriga has also appeared in court\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204500.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204500.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/1_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204500.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/1_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article37204500.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/1_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Stepdad Marc Ballabriga has also appeared in court\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Stepdad Marc Ballabriga has also appeared in court<cite aria-label=\"Image: RUI MINDERICO\/EPA\/Shutterstock\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: RUI MINDERICO\/EPA\/Shutterstock)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Rousseau will be remanded at Tires until her next court appearance. The 41-year-old, who divorced from the boys&#8217; father several years ago, promotes herself online as a &#8220;sexologist&#8221; who can help &#8220;all people who have suffered trauma to regain serenity and sexual satisfaction&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ballabriga is a former police officer who was convicted in 2010 of harassment and domestic violence against the mother of his daughter, according to French media. He is being held at the Set\u00fabal Prison.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/portugal-toughest-prison-abandoned-kids-37201948\" target=\"_blank\">Source link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marine Rousseau, 41, is accused of leaving her two sons to fend for themselves in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0_Mother-and-man-suspected-of-abandoning-two-children-are-presented-to-court-in-Setubal-Portugal-23.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/login9ja.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}