For two years, the scenery outside his apartment door never varied. It was the neighborhood cemetery. Inside, the refrigerator was empty, the light never came on, and the chill permeated every room.
And yet, amazingly, a nine-year-old American boy in southwest France was able to fend for himself, feed himself, and earn respectable grades in school, and no one around him noticed he was abandoned.
A child left behind
The drama for the boy began in 2020 when his mother left him in their destitute apartment in Nersac, just on the outskirts of the city of Angoulême. She was already settled into a new life in her boyfriend’s town, Sireuil.
At the tender age of nine, the boy was left without a father and without adults who would be able to safeguard him.
The flat from the French public housing stock, or HLM, was without electricity and heating. He passed nights huddled under three duvets for warmth. Cans were a staple for meals, and when they got low, he would pick tomatoes from his neighbour’s balcony.
Showering meant a cold wash at best and, at times a downright impossibility. He told his friends that he dined alone and took the bus home alone. Nobody found it strange enough to inquire more.
“I thought his mother was at home”
Later, neighbors confessed they never would have guessed what was going on behind the closed door of the boy’s apartment.
One immediate neighbour confided in French television TF1, “For me, that was normal. His mother was waiting for him at home. I never knew he didn’t have anybody with him.”
His classmates thought the same. One friend recalled that the boy often said he ate alone and traveled to school by himself. It seemed unusual, but not alarming enough to raise red flags.
The boy himself did his part to sustain the charade. As local officials tell the story, he erected some sort of emotional barricade, waving aside fears and assuring people that everything was okay.
A mother’s brief visits
The mother, 39, would sometimes visit. Court records showed that she would occasionally zip over on a scooter and take her son to a neighborhood supermarket.
With her government-issued food stamps, she would purchase cakes, British-style biscuits, and small portions of edibles and would then return to her new dwelling. But she never spent a night, and the visits were a rare and occasional thing.
She attempted later in court to defend that she did not leave her son behind, that she was still responsible for him. And at one time, she testified she lost her toothbrush in the apartment to demonstrate that she was present. But detectives were not buying it.
Phone records revealed that she did not visit the flat frequently, and she never took her son to class. For all intents and purposes, he was growing up by himself.
Authorities step in
The truth came to light in May 2022 as concerned neighbours reported the matter to the police.
The mayor of Nersac, Barbara Couturier, reported the case to France’s child protection agency.
Police raided the apartment and could find no evidence that the mother ever lived there. The officials called it a “poorly invested home”, struggling to survive as a dwelling for a child.
Up to August 2022, he was removed from the apartment and placed in foster care. By then, he was 11 years old and had managed on his own for more than two years.
Courtroom reckoning
The boy’s mother was at last given justice. On 16th January 2024, an Angoulême court convicted the mother and sentenced her to 18 months in prison. The court also mandated that she must wear an ankle bracelet.
She was noted by the judge to have expressed little remorse and had not adequately understood the extent of her neglect.
Even though she was awarded visitation rights, she has supposedly only visited her son twice since the trial. The son himself has shown little inclination to reunite with her.
A tale of resilience
Teachers described him as mature for his age, and child services noted he has been progressing well since entering foster care.
It’s the sort of story that begets hard questions: Why did a child fall between the cracks quite so completely? Why did teachers, neighbors, and social services overlook signs for so long?
For the time being, at least, this boy’s survival story appears to be one of recovery. Though his bond with his mother is still broken, at least he is in a better place now, one where adults are taking his side.
His journey began in a vacant, chilly apartment, but his future seems a whole lot brighter.
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