Black widow of Patraix returns to Picassent prison as son turns three

Black widow of Patraix returns to Picassent prison as son turns three

What happens when a child raised in a prison mothers' unit reaches the age limit while his mother is still serving her sentence? In the case of María Jesús Moreno — known as Maje, the black widow of Patraix — the answer is a forced transfer: Spain's prison service (Instituciones Penitenciarias) has agreed to move her out of the Irene Villa mothers' unit at Fontcalent, in Alicante, and back to Picassent prison in Valencia, the same facility where she began serving her sentence and where she met the man with whom she later had her first child. The decision comes after the child turned three, the maximum age set by prison law for staying with his mother inside prison.

The boy was born on 13 July 2023 at Alicante's Hospital General and has lived with his mother in the Alicante mothers' module ever since. He is now in the custody of his grandmother while Maje continues serving the 22-year prison sentence imposed on her for taking part in the murder of her husband. Her scheduled release date is 4 January 2040.

What the law says about children in prison

Spanish prison rules set the age of three as the limit for a mother and child to live together in a mothers' unit. After that age, the child must leave the facility unless there are extraordinary circumstances, such as having no relatives able to take care of them. That exception does not apply here: the grandmother will take over the child's care. The boy thus leaves the Alicante unit and Maje returns to Valencia against her will, according to published reports.

The prison service has not yet set a specific date for the transfer. Among the alternatives considered were her staying in Fontcalent's women's module, near Novelda, where her family lives; remaining in the mothers' unit as a support inmate — helping with childcare or food service — though without her son; or a transfer to the Alicante Social Integration Centre under an exceptional application of the principle of prison flexibility. The authorities ultimately chose Picassent.

The child's father and prison conjugal visits

The child's father is another inmate whom Maje met in Picassent, sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter, whose sentence he has already served in full. During Maje's stay in Alicante the two kept in touch: they spoke every Sunday through the prison phone system and had a monthly conjugal visit. She also received occasional visits from her parents.

The conjugal visit scheme is one of the most controversial points. Some argue that someone convicted of murder should not have access to such encounters and that prison should miccionan nothing more than serving the sentence. On the other side stands standard prison policy: conjugal visits are part of the ordinary regime, and the authorities provide condoms for these meetings — a detail that usually goes unnoticed and that explains why pregnancies occur in prison.

Another uncomfortable question hangs over the child: if the father has already served his sentence, why is the grandmother taking custody instead of him? The available material does not clarify this.

When she could get out: open regime, parole and key dates

Maje will not be eligible for the third-degree regime (an open prison regime in Spain) until January 2029, when she will have served half of her 22-year sentence. Reaching that date guarantees nothing: her behaviour, risk of reoffending, acceptance of responsibility and reports from the treatment board will all be assessed. Early parole could be requested after serving two-thirds of the sentence, around July 2032. The ordinary route, after three-quarters, would come around July 2034.

Also still in Picassent is Salvador Rodrigo, Salva, the lover with whom Maje plotted her husband's murder and who physically carried out the crime. Their reunion in the same facility is, to put it mildly, a fact the authorities were aware of when making the decision.

The child who grew up behind bars

The boy has spent the first three years of his life in a prison space designed so that inmates can live with their children. It is the most unusual stage of Maje's sentence, and it is now closing. From here on, contact with her son will be limited to permitted visits and communications.

The fine print remains: a child raised in a mothers' unit, a grandmother raising her convicted daughter's son, and an administration that chooses to send the inmate back to the prison where it all began. The system works. Or so they say.