For two years he lived almost exclusively on biscuits, tins and tomatoes – which were stolen from the neighbour’s balcony in the French commune of Nersac.
Now the mother is sentenced to prison for leaving her nine-year-old son alone.
– There were no signs that he was abandoned, Mayor Barbara Couturier told Le Parisien.
The now twelve-year-old boy lived between 2020 and 2022 alone in an apartment without electricity. To cope with the cold nights in Nersac in western France, he wrapped himself in blankets. In order not to starve, he lived on tinned food, biscuits and tomatoes.
The neighbors raised the alarm
But outwardly, after all, the boy lived a seemingly ordinary life. And that didn’t stop him from getting to and from school, where he also did well.
– He was a very good student. Always clean and polite. There were no signs that he was abandoned, says Barbara Couturier, mayor of Nersac La Parisien.
But the boy told his classmates about the situation – and in the end it was the neighbors who raised the alarm. The boy had stolen the tomatoes from their balcony.
– I had a small farm, and the little one came discreetly to take tomatoes to eat.
“Am not a mother hen”
Meanwhile, the mother lived about five kilometers away and only came to see her son on rare occasions. Now she is sentenced to six months in prison.
It has been a year since the boy was taken into the care of a foster family. Since then, the mother has visited him twice.
– I am not a mother hen, but he is still my son, she said during the trial.