French man charged after locking malnourished nine-year-old in van since 2024
The boy was found naked on top of a mound of rubbish and could no longer walk due to being sat down for so long.
A malnourished nine-year-old boy has been rescued in eastern France after being locked in his father's van for years.
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A neighbour had alerted police to “sounds of a child” coming from a vehicle in the village of Hagenbach in eastern France, located near the borders of Switzerland and Germany.
Police forced the van open on Monday to discover a child “lying in a foetal position, naked, covered by a blanket on top of a mound of trash and near excrement”, according to prosecutors.
They added the child was malnourished and could no longer walk due to being sat down for so long.
The boy's father, 43, told police he had kept the boy in the vehicle since November 2024 to prevent his 37-year-old partner from putting the child "in psychiatric care”.
The boy said his father brought him food twice a day and left him bottles of water, according to French newspapers.
He told police that he had to urinate in plastic bottles and defecate in bin bags.
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He said the last time he was able to shower was at the end of 2024 - well over a year ago.
The boy's parents, including his father, lived in a block of flats with the boy’s sisters, aged 10 and 12.
The father claims that his partner did not know the boy was in the van.
Neighbours told police that although they had noticed the boy was absent, they were led to believe by the couple that he had been placed in care.
The boy's father has since been charged with the “sequestration and arbitrary detention of a minor”, as well as depriving him of proper food and medical care.
He has been remanded in custody.
His partner has been charged with “non-assistance to a minor in danger” and “non-denunciation of mistreatment of a minor” and has been granted conditional bail.
The three children have been placed in temporary care pending the decision of a children’s court judge.
