The father of two young boys who were found crying and wandering alone in Portuguese woods has refused to condemn his ex-wife for abandoning their children.
His two sons, aged five and four, were discovered on a rural road between the Portuguese towns of Alcacer do Sal and Comporta on May 19, carrying backpacks with food and water but no identity documents.
Their French mother, 41-year-old Marine Rousseau, and stepfather Marc Ballabriga, 55, were arrested for allegedly abandoning the schoolboys, hundreds of miles from their home in Colmar, eastern France.
The boys' father, who only had limited and supervised visitation rights since his divorce two years ago, has spoken to the media for the first time since they were reported missing.
While he won't 'defend or minimise the acts committed' and considers the situation 'serious and deeply shocking,' he said he refuses to fuel hate directed at the children's mother.
'I refuse to add hateful words, insults, or derogatory terms intended to dehumanise a person, even if they are found guilty,' he told the French channel Ici Alsace TV.
He appealed for media restraint and respect for the children's privacy.
'My children will need to rebuild their lives, just like me. They won't need to be constantly reminded of this tragedy,' he said.
Frenchwoman Marine Rousseau (L) leaves the Setubal courthouse, suspected of abandoning two children, in Setubal, Portugal, on May 23, 2026
Frenchman Marc Ballabriga (C) leaves the Setubal courthouse, suspected of abandoning two children, in Setubal, Portugal, on May 23, 2026
Two young brothers, aged five and four, were abandoned by their mother and her partner in a wooded area in Portugal
The father spoke of enduring days of 'pain' while awaiting authorisation to see the boys, adding: 'It's only a matter of days until I get my children back.'
He said he has thought about them 'every second' since being alerted by the French police of their disappearance.
He is waiting for the 'green light' to travel to Portugal in order to retrieve them. 'Day and night, I have my phone by my side,' he said.
Authorities said the boys' mother Marine and her partner Marc appeared to have no known connection to Portugal.
The couple appeared in court on May 23 in handcuffs and were placed in pre-trial detention.
They are both accused of child endangerment and abandonment, while the man faces an additional charge of aggravated assault.
After arriving in Portugal with the two boys, the family travelled more than 310 miles, first going to the Miranda do Corvo region before heading further south to Alcacer do Sal.
On May 19, the young boys were discovered by a local couple, Eugenia and Artur Quintas, some 60 miles south of Lisbon.
Artur told local media: 'They were crying, they were terrified. They were crying and calling for their father.'
He added that they were both covered in dirt and bruises, and one had hurt his knee.
The boys told authorities that their parents told them they were going to play a game to 'drive away the devil'.
The couple had blindfolded them and took them to the wooded area, before telling them they could only remove their eye covers once they had found a knife the couple had buried in the ground.
The boys were digging around in the dirt for several minutes before the older boy removed their blindfolds.
To their shock, the boys realised they were alone.
Still believing that they were playing a game, they wandered the area for several hours through a part of Portugal that can reach up to 30C during the day at this time of year.
The Quintases took the young children to their home and called the police, who quickly arrived and transferred them to Setúbal Hospital for a full health assessment.
There, they were given a clean bill of health.
A toxicology report revealed the boys had not been drugged by the parents.
'The oldest one told me that he and his brother had gotten lost in the forest and that their father and mother had left without taking them,' Artur said.
He added: 'I realised right away that they had been abandoned by the backpacks. When I saw the way the backpacks were packed, I knew they had been abandoned.'
Authorities said the boys' mother Marine and her partner Marc appeared to have no known connection to Portugal
The boys were discovered in tears and carrying backpacks, with food and water but no identity documents
The boys were given nothing more than a change of clothes, two pieces of fruit and some water
The brothers were placed into foster care after information about the boys was requested from the French embassy in Portugal - which revealed they had no blood relatives in the country.
French authorities are now set to process their return to their country of origin.
The couple's backgrounds have gained attention in both France and Portugal.
Marine, born in 1984, graduated in psychomotor therapy from the Pierre and Marie Curie University of Paris in 2008.
She worked in the town of Troyes for 10 years before studying sexology at the Paris Diderot University between 2019 and 2022.
The French woman left Troyes in 2025 to settle down in Colmar.
Following her separation from the boys' biological father, she obtained custody of her two children - a decision he reportedly challenged in court.
As a sexologist, Marine specialises in 'body-based practices, developmental dynamics, and specific trauma care, offers consultations in France, Germany, Belgium, and Switzerland, as well as via videoconference', according to her LinkedIn.
She adds: 'I help women and men achieve sexual fulfilment. At your own pace, even if you're traumatised.'
On her Facebook, she does not have any images or videos of her children, but promotes her business heavily.
She said she helps women with their sexuality following 'traumatic stress related to childbirth, rape, assault, humiliation, pain, hurtful words, discrediting of your erotic potential and your femininity'.
Marine also organises masterclasses on 'co-construction of sexuality', intended 'for parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, for every member in families, for anyone who would like to pass on something about sexuality, whether to children, adolescents or young people, while respecting their sensitivity and level of development'.
French police are already aware of the stepfather, who is believed to suffer from a psychiatric disorder.
He is a former French gendarmerie officer who left the force in 2010.
French police are already aware of the stepfather Marc, who is believed to suffer from a psychiatric disorder
The children were left to wander through a wooded area between Alcacer do Sal and Comporta
Experts fear that the children may suffer long-term psychological harm as a result of being abandoned.
Psychologist Melanie Tavares told CNN Portugal: 'It's the feeling of abandonment, of being lost, unprotected, of not having familiar resources to ultimately soothe the fear.'
She said being left in the woods may affect their emotional security and cause sleep difficulties, eating disorders, irritability and isolation.
Tavares said: 'This will obviously bring, in the coming days, some symptoms to which those caring for these children will have to be very attentive.
'We are talking about several situations, namely great difficulty in sleeping, falling asleep and maintaining sleep, changes in normal routines, including eating, irritability or even almost permanent isolation, as well as great difficulty, often, in accepting rules and the context in which they are, because none of this is familiar to these children.'
She added that the fact that the parents pretended to be playing a 'game' could result in a significant distrust in parental figures.
She said: 'These children will be in constant distress, a great deal of distress from abandonment, and distress from separation.
'This is a trauma that will remain, just like when we get a tattoo. It stays for life.'
Marine's mother, the boys' maternal grandmother, reported the children's disappearance to police, telling them they had been abducted by their mother.
The boys' biological father also filed a child abduction report to police.
Colmar prosecutor Jean Richert said on May 21 regarding the father: 'He's like everyone else, he doesn't understand.'
On May 21, Portuguese police announced that they had arrested a 55-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman 'linked to the incident involving two minor children found alone near a public road in the municipality of Alcácer do Sal'.
They were arrested at a café terrace in Fatima on suspicion of abuse, endangering others, and abandonment.
The pair were located when a woman who spoke to them called the police, after becoming suspicious they were the couple authorities were looking for following news that two boys had been abandoned.
According to cafe owner Jorge Lopes, who spoke to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha, the couple who 'only spoke French' spent 'more than five hours' on the establishment's terrace, eating cakes and drinking coffees.
As they were led into court on May 23, the man shouted 'I love you' in French and the boys' mother sang.
Local newspaper Correio da Manhã reported the couple could be heard in their separate cells 'shouting at each other'.
Footage obtained by local media showed the boys innocently playing in their parents' car at a petrol station in Miranda do Douro, near the border with Spain
The boys could be seen clambering around in the grey car as the parents filled the car up
Footage obtained by local media showed the boys innocently playing in their parents' car at a petrol station in Miranda do Douro, near the border with Spain, after they arrived in Portugal.
Marc appears to be driving the grey car as he pulls into the petrol station.
Both he and Marine are seen getting out of the vehicle before walking over to an attendant.
In the back, one of the boys was seen clambering around the front seats, while the other leaned to the front of the car in the gap between the seats.
TVI, a Portuguese broadcaster, reported that the footage was taken at 6.16pm on May 11 - the same day the family arrived in Portugal via Bragança on the Spanish border.