Children abandoned without clothes or food in an apartment in Reims: the mother had gone to “have a drink with a friend”

Les enfants ont été retrouvés dans un appartement “vide et sale”. MAXPPP – Laurence Mouton – Illustration

Four children aged 2 to 6 were discovered in an empty and dirty apartment in Reims, abandoned by their mother and her partner who were taken into police custody upon their return. The mother will be judged in October and the children will be entrusted to child welfare.

Four children aged 2 to 6 were discovered this Sunday, May 26, 2024 in the evening "abandoned in the apartment" located in the Wilson district, in Reims (Marne). They were "found cooking food on a hot plate on the floor" of an apartment "empty and dirty", without clothing or food, said prosecutor François Schneider, confirming media information premises.

Children left to their own devices

The mother, aged around thirty, had left her children to their own devices for nearly five hours "to go have a drink at a friend's house", she explained. The firefighters were alerted by "a call from an acquaintance of the mother", the prosecutor said. The mother and her partner were both arrested upon their return Sunday evening.

According to Le Parisien, it had been five weeks since this family had just moved into this recent social residence where the family lived in apartment 41. Two slats of the wooden door of the entrance to the apartment ;rsquo;building were torn down, in emergency, by firefighters and police officers, to rescue the miners.

Arriving there, they discovered dirty diapers littering the ground and panties filled with excrement. Two toddlers were almost naked and had traces of excrement on their bodies.

The fridge was empty and a burning smell could be felt in the main room. "Apparently they were not malnourished and did not show any traces of beatings", said the public prosecutor, François Schneider, this Tuesday, May 28, during his press conference.

A friend had to watch the children

That day, a friend had to look after his children while he was away, says Le Parisien< /strong>. "As Madame was slow to return, he then asked his sister to call the firefighters so that they could intervene", said the public prosecutor of Reims. She returned to her apartment at the end of the day and did not admit the facts at the time of her arrest. "The apartment was clean and tidy before my departure", she told the police