In a deeply disturbing case out of northwest Spain, three children- 8 year old twins and their 10 year-old brother were rescued from a home in Oviedo where they had reportedly been kept in strict isolation since 2021. Their parents, a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old German American woman, were arrested on Monday, according to New York Post reports.
Authorities say the children had been confined to the house under extreme lockdown conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and had not been allowed outside for years.
“As soon as we got them out, all three began breathing deeply, as if they were experiencing fresh air for the first time,” an investigator told local media.
Police described the children's living conditions as shocking. The siblings were found sleeping in cribs, which had been defaced with disturbing drawings of monsters and dolls.
Three Kids Rescued After Years Locked Inside by 'COVID Syndrome' Parents ????
Three siblings — 8-year-old twins and their 10-year-old — were rescued from a house in Oviedo, Spain, after reportedly being kept indoors since 2021. Their parents, gripped by extreme COVID fears,… pic.twitter.com/bAwHiRu6dX
“The children were in an appalling state,” an investigator added. “They weren’t malnourished because they had been fed, but they were filthy and entirely disconnected from the outside world. It wasn’t just that they didn’t go to school, they hadn’t even been in their own garden. When we finally brought them outside and they saw a snail, they saw a snail and went crazy, freaked out.”
The case came to light after a neighbor filed a complaint on April 14, noting that children in the home had not been seen attending school. Following the report, local newspaper El Comercio confirmed that an investigation was launched.
Spanish outlet ABC reported that both parents are now facing charges of domestic violence and child abandonment.
At a press conference, Oviedo Police Chief Javier Lozano described the scene inside the house as a “house of horrors.”
“We’ve given three children their lives back,” he said. “We have dismantled the house of horrors.”
