Australian mother and three children moved to secure facility after living off-grid in Abruzzo forest

ROME – An Anglo-Australian family that had been living off-grid in an Abruzzo forest has been ordered to send their three children, aged 8 and twins 6, to an “educational community”, accompanied by their mother for a period of observation, as has been reported in the RAI.

 The couple Catherine Birmingham, a 45-year-old Australian national and her husband Nathan Trevallion, a 51-year-old British citizen had been living in the Abruzzo forest in an ex-farmhouse without plumbing and mains electricity, until they came to the attention of the authorities in September 2024, after the entire family ended-up in hospital after ingesting poisonous mushrooms, according to Open Online. 

 The family had been “home-schooling” their children, which while legal in Italy, requires parents to teach and enroll their children in Italian state exams. The parents addressed the accusations that they were living totally off-grid in a comment to il Messaggero saying, “after purchasing the house in the nearby woods of Palmoli,Chieti, we installed solar panels for electricity, we take water from the well and we have a fireplace to heat ourselves. We don't live isolated in the woods because we shop at the supermarket once a week in nearby San Salvo.” 

 Late yesterday afternoon the children and their parents were moved to a protected facility in Vasto after the Juvenile Court of L'Aquila ordered the children’s placement in an educational community for a period of observation. The mother will be with them, which was allowed only after the couple's lawyer, Giovanni Angelucci, carried out a long mediation with the social workers and the police. 

 The house has since been cordoned off by the military to prevent the few neighbors from being able to get closer. A witness said to the RAI that she was stopped twice before she could pass and found the mother, Catherine, "agitated but composed, it all happened in a few minutes: she told the children to take their pajamas, their toothbrush and put them in their backpack, adding some fruit to eat. She tried to control the situation. Then they left in the lawyer's car. The children seemed calm but with their eyes were full of questions about what was happening.”

 The judgement came as a result of the “the right to social life”, which is in article 2 of the Italian Constitution, stating that a lack of a social life can "produce serious psychological and educational consequences for the minor.” The judgement was not a result of the home-schooling itself, according the published report. 

 According to the Court, "the deprivation of comparison between peers of primary school age can have significant effects on the development of the child, which manifest themselves both in school and non-school contexts". “It is necessary to remove minors from the family home,” the report continues, "in consideration of the danger to physical integrity deriving from the housing condition, as well as from the parents' refusal to allow the health checks and treatments required by law". Furthermore, "the absence of usability and therefore of static safety, also in terms of seismic risk and fire prevention, of the electrical, water and heating systems and of the safety, hygiene and health conditions of the home, entails the presumption ex lege of the existence of the period of prejudice to the integrity and physical safety of minors".

 The family’s lawyer, Giovanni Angelucci has already been challenging the decision, stating that, these were “false statements” and while he cannot comment on the measures they will certainly be appealing them. 

 The couple have reiterated in the media that their choice to live in the woods was not born from negligence, but from the desire to live in contact with nature, protecting the bond with their children and animals. The parents remained calm during the confrontation with the authorties and the father Mr. Trevallian, who is a former chef and fine furniture dealer expressed his anguish to reporters, asking “how can you take children away from their parents? They will be traumatized."

 The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office had already asked him and his wife, a former riding teacher, for the suspension of parental rights and to grant the courts temporary custody of the three children. But the couple did not accept the decision and continued to defend their choice to "free themselves from the toxicity of modern life,” according to the RAI.

 Mr. Trevallion told Il Messaggero that during the removal of the children and his wife, he saw “a lot of police arrive in plain clothes, without sirens or banners, together with the social services, our lawyer Giovanni Angelucci, the mayor of Palmoli, Giuseppe Masciulli and lawyer Marika Bolognese. They immediately wanted to take the children away from us but thanks to Giovanni who negotiated with them, my wife managed to go with them to the facility in Vasto.”

 He further made a point of expressing his desire to bring a suitcase with “clean clothes” to his family they only managed to take with them, what was necessary for the night.

 The parents have heavily criticized the Italian authorities in the media stating that a system that takes small children away from their parents “harms people who live honestly." They have set up a petition on change.org, which has amassed over 31 thousand signatures online from people around the world, who share their beliefs.

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