A French couple accused of planning to «sacrifice» their five-year-old son in the Moroccan desert stood trial on Thursday. Arrested in southern Spain in late 2023 as they were about to board a ferry to Morocco, the couple was partially acquitted by a Bordeaux court. According to Le Parisien, while the prosecution had sought six years in prison for the father and four for the mother on charges of criminal conspiracy, the court ruled that «no evidence could establish» such an offense. However, both were sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended with probation, for failing in their legal parental duties. The father was also ordered to undergo court-mandated treatment. «I never wanted to harm my son», said Florian L., 42, during the hearing. Detained since the investigation began, he was released following the verdict. The prosecution argued that the couple had abruptly abandoned their jobs and home in France, discarded their phones to avoid being tracked, and traveled to Morocco with the alleged intent to «exorcise» their son and «sacrifice him on Christmas Day so he could resurrect like Jesus». The case came to light after the child's maternal aunt alerted authorities, concerned by the father's plan to create a «new religion». The father claimed to have met God «naked in a forest during a storm» and described himself as His «armed arm». Although he was briefly institutionalized for delusional episodes, psychiatric experts concluded he had no lasting mental illness. The mother, Marie L., denied the accusations, saying the trip was simply to «find peace and tranquility». Her lawyer argued that the sudden departure «does not prove a deadly plan».
