Overview
- Police in Hagenbach forced open the van after a neighbor reported a child’s cries on Monday, finding the boy naked on trash near excrement.
- Doctors hospitalized him for severe malnutrition, and investigators said he could not walk after months in a seated position.
- The 43-year-old father admitted confining the child since November 2024 and faces preliminary kidnapping and related charges while in custody.
- His 37-year-old partner received preliminary counts for failing to help a minor in danger and was released under judicial supervision, and the other two children were placed in social services care.
- Prosecutors are investigating whether others were misled, noting friends and family were told he was institutionalized and teachers were told he transferred schools, with no medical record of prior psychiatric issues.