The PSP found three children in a vacant building in an area known for drug use, in the Padre Cruz neighborhood, in Lisbon. The situation, which occurred on Saturday morning, November 1st, resulted in the case being reported to the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People.
The case was reported this Tuesday, 4th, by Correio da Manhã, which said that the minors, aged 2, 5 and 7, were found among animal waste, feces and urine.
Inês Lemos, head of operations at the Lisbon Metropolitan Command (Cometlis) of the Public Security Police (PSP), explained that a foot patrol detected “in an area associated with some drug use, a couple in a vacant house with three children”.
The couple confirmed to the agents that the children were their children, and the minors were taken to the police station to try to find out what was going on and “why the children were in that place”, as explained by Inês Lemos.
The children “hadn’t eaten since the day before, but they were fine”, according to the flight attendant. They appeared to be healthy, with no signs of malnutrition or other types of abuse.
This official also explained that the police then went to the parents’ house, in Famões, where a grandmother also lives, to check the housing and hygiene conditions.
“Once this was verified, a notification was only made to the Commission for the Protection of Children and Young People (CPJJ) because, in fact, it is not normal, or even acceptable, for children to be in these types of spaces”, he added.
From the information available to the PSP, the couple is a drug user, justifying the referral of the children to the CPCJ.