A 9-year-old boy in France has been freed from captivity thanks to concerned neighbors. The boy, who has not been named, was seriously disliked by his father’s romantic partner for unknown reasons. As a result, the father believed the safest thing to do was lock the boy in a van rather than have him face what the partner wanted to do to him. It’s unknown how long the dad planned to keep the boy in the van, but he ended up being there for a year and a half before he was rescued.
Although the father made sure the boy ate, he was malnourished when he was found. Now, the dad and his partner are facing multiple charges.
He was found in very bad shape.
The boy was discovered after a neighbor told police they heard the “sounds of a child” coming from a van on April 6, 2026, in the town of Hagenbach, which is near the borders of Switzerland and Germany, CBS News reported.
According to a statement provided by Prosecutor Nicolas Heitz on April 11, the boy was found in the van “lying in a fetal position, naked, covered by a blanket on top of a mound of trash and near excrement,” per the outlet. He was malnourished and, because he had been sitting for so long, he could no longer walk.
The boy’s 43-year-old father told police that he put his son in the van in November 2024, when he was 7 “to protect him” because the man’s partner wanted to send the boy to a psychiatric facility.
The boy was largely neglected and barely cared for.
Heitz said there was no medical record of the boy having any psychiatric problems before he disappeared, the Associated Press reported. The boy was also doing well in school.
According to the boy, he had “big difficulties” with his father’s partner. He told investigators that his father “had no choice” but to lock him in the van. He also shared that he hadn’t showered since he was locked in the van.
Allegedly, his father brought him food and bottles of water two times a day, the BBC reported. The boy was forced to urinate in plastic bottles and defecate in garbage bags.
The prosecutor’s office is investigating if anyone else knew the boy was locked up.
Friends and family told investigators they thought he was taken to a psychiatric institution. Some neighbors claimed that they heard sounds coming from the van, but they were told it was a cat, per CBS News.
The boy’s teachers were allegedly told that he had been transferred to another school. His father, whose name has not been released, claimed his partner had no idea the boy was locked in the van.
The father has been charged with “sequestration and arbitrary detention of a minor,” as well as depriving him of proper food and medical care, the BBC reported. He is being held in custody.
His partner is being charged with “non-assistance to a minor in danger,” and “non-denunciation of mistreatment of a minor.” She was granted conditional bail.
In addition to the boy, his 12-year-old sister and the partner’s 10-year-old daughter have been put into the care of social services, per CBS News.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
