A child of just 9 years old survived alone at home for two years after suffering family abandonment by his parents. The events occurred in Nersac, western France. Between 2020 and 2022, none of his neighbors realized that the little boy was living with hardly any food and no heat.

“He lived across the street. His mother came rarely, but I didn’t realize he was alone“says a neighbor. They also did not notice at school, where the minor went to class normally.

The boy’s father was missing and the mother decided to leave him alone to go live with your partner to a town five kilometers from the child, whom he visited sporadically.

An anonymous complaint alerted the authorities. After confirming that the child lived alone, the mother has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for abandonment of a minor. Now, the boy lives with a foster family while France wonders how the system could have failed and the abandonment not been detected.