The expected punishment had arrived. Three children who grew up in a farmhouse without electricity in the Palmoli forest (Chieti) with their parents were moved to the family home with their mother. The father will continue to live in the old house. “The Juvenile Court of L’Aquila has issued a provision that suspends the executive care of children – lawyer Giovanni Angelucci explained to Repubblica – they are very conscious, even the little ones. The judges questioned the physical condition of the little ones and their level of education because they did not go to school and receive parental education. Now we have 10 days to challenge the order. The parents know that this path is necessary to be able to return to the free life they always wanted”.
The story attracted media and social media attention: a petition launched on Change.org has collected more than 30 thousand signatures to prevent children from being separated from their parents. He’s Australian, she’s English, they live in an old farmhouse: the water comes from a well, the kitchen is wood-fired, and the bathroom is outside the house. The story reached the prosecutor’s office in 2024, after the family ended up in the hospital with food poisoning from mold. The Carabinieri then discovered the housing conditions, sanitary-hygienic deficiencies, and the absence of traditional school routes for children.
