A Polish LGBT couple faces up to 10 years in prison after their starved and abused 4-year-old son was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes

A Polish LGBT couple faces up to 10 years in prison after their 4-year-old son was found starved and abused on the street wearing only his shoes.

Julia Bilkiewicz, 27, and Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, were arrested after the naked child, covered in scratches, bruises and bite marks, approached a local woman in Gliwice, southwestern Poland, and asked for a drink of water.

The concerned woman immediately took the child, known only as Ignacy Z, to a local police station, where officers discovered he had escaped from the house of horrors after months of abuse.

After being taken to the hospital, doctors also discovered that Ignacy suffered from a congenital bone deformity, which left him partially disabled in one leg and required months of surgery.

Prosecutor Karina Sprus said: ‘The child’s body showed numerous injuries, including injuries to the left arm, chest, right cheek and an injury to the left eye socket.

Ignacy, 4, was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes in Gliwice, southwestern Poland

Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, mentally abused her partner’s child, prosecutors say

‘Patrycja J. physically and mentally abused her partner’s child. She called the child insulting words, threatened to send it to an orphanage, punished it by locking it in a cupboard for a long time, deprived it of food and drink, forbade it to relieve itself, threw the child against a wall, pulled its ears, bit the child, beat it all over its body with fists and a cable, and strangled and kicked the child.’

She added that Ignacy’s biological mother, Bilkiewicz, “did not respond to her partner’s behavior and herself used verbal and physical violence against the child in the form of blows and insulting words.”

According to local media, Bilkiewicz and Ignacy moved in with Januszkiewicz and her two young daughters in October 2023, after the two women started a relationship.

Neighbors often heard the couple arguing before they made up and declared their love for each other.

A neighbor told the newspaper Fakt: ‘This Patrycja loved her daughters, but she abused Ignacy, her partner’s son.

She was such a cruel, loud woman.

‘Three weeks ago I heard these women arguing again and calling each other ‘sluts.’

‘Patrycja hit Julia and she begged her that she couldn’t go anywhere.

Ignacy was taken to a local police station, where officers discovered that he had managed to escape from the house of horrors after months of being abused.

Julia Bilkiewicz, 27, (left) and Patrycja Januszkiewicz, 29, (right) were arrested after Ignacy was found on the street

Ignacy, 4, was found wandering the streets in nothing but his shoes in Gliwice, southwestern Poland

According to local media, Bilkiewicz and Ignacy moved in with Januszkiewicz (pictured) and her two young daughters in October 2023, after the two women began a relationship

Ignacy’s biological mother, Bilkiewicz, “did not respond to her partner’s behavior, prosecutors said

‘Then they made up and declared their love for each other. It was such a strange relationship.

‘Someone said later that little Ignacy was sitting on the stairs in the basement, he was scared.’

Other neighbors admitted that they sometimes heard a child screaming and crying, but they did not call the police.

A neighbor told the newspaper Fakt: “Arguing, fighting and shouting were the norm.”

Both women have now been charged with child abuse involving particular cruelty.

District Prosecutor Katarzyna Preidl said: “The investigation into this case has only been going on for a few days.

‘A lot of information needs to be verified.

“The most important thing is that the boy is safe.”