Overview
- Police in Hagenbach, near the Swiss and German borders, forced open a van after a neighbor reported childlike sounds on Monday.
- The 43-year-old father is in custody on preliminary kidnapping and related charges, while his 37-year-old partner was charged with failing to help a minor and placed under judicial supervision.
- Prosecutors said the boy was found naked, malnourished, and unable to walk after months in a seated position, and he told authorities he had not showered since 2024 and used bottles and trash bags as toilets.
- The father told investigators he locked the child in November 2024 to protect him from a psychiatric admission his partner allegedly sought, though officials say there is no medical record of mental illness and note the boy had done well in school.
- Social services took the boy’s 12-year-old sister and his partner’s 10-year-old daughter into care, and investigators are checking whether relatives, friends, or teachers were misled after being told he had transferred schools or was hospitalized.