67-year-old woman detained for various crimes
A true horror story is emerging today about an ‘illegal’ crèche in Lisbon’s Marvila area.
According to reports a 67-year-old woman running the unlicensed facility “beat children with a truncheon”.
The woman has now been arrested, and faces the crimes of child abandonment and detention of an illegal weapon.
The situation appears to be that the woman had five children in her care (whose parents worked all day, and sometimes during the nights).
One of those children, a baby of roughly a year old, was found by police “completely abandoned in a crib” in the woman’s apartment.
“After primary analysis by rescuers, it was decided to transport the baby to hospital”.
Police however had arrived on the tip-off of local school authorities who suspected one of their pupils, a girl, had been the victim of physical abuse.
“After intervention of the Escola Segura programme” this child too was transported to hospital.
On arrival at the woman’s home, police registered “not even the minimum conditions” for a crèche.
At first, the woman refused to let them in, but she was later “intercepted” on the outside of the property and authorities thus gained access.
It appears the woman ran her childcare facility on a 24-hour basis “without minimum conditions of safety or well-being for the children, putting their physical and psychological integrity at serious risk”.
The woman was paid for her services, explains a statement by PSP police, but did not declare the income received.
A truncheon “identical to the one commonly transported on belts by members of the police forces” was apprehended.
This was “the object used in the aggression against the child who originated in the discovery of this case”, explain police, adding that “two weapons used in martial arts” were also removed from the property.
With the children now out of her care, the woman, has been released on ‘TIR’ (lightest of) bail conditions, meaning she has to remain living at her address while the case against her is finalised.
