Three children have been rescued from what police have described as a “house of horrors” in northern Spain — after reportedly being locked indoors for over three years in strict, Covid-style conditions.
Warning: This article will contain details and information that some readers will find upsetting.The shocking case emerged in Oviedo, where a German couple allegedly kept their three kids — 10-year-old and eight-year-old twins — confined inside their home since December 2021, forcing them to wear masks and live in isolation long after pandemic restrictions had ended, PEOPLE reports.
The rescue took place on Monday (April 28), after a neighbour tipped off authorities two weeks earlier with concerns that the children hadn’t been seen at school.
Police surveillance confirmed those fears: only the father, 53, was ever seen leaving the home, reportedly to collect mail and groceries. Other neighbours confirmed the family hadn’t left the house in years.
But when officers finally entered the property, what they found stunned even the most seasoned investigators.
“As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before,” one investigator said, per the New York Post.
The mother, a 48-year-old German-American woman, allegedly tried to convince police that her children were "very sick" and placed three masks on each of them before allowing officers in, according to El Mundo.
But inside, it was a different story.
The house was reportedly filled with garbage, covered in large quantities of unused medication and masks, and described as a “clearly unsanitary situation” by officers. Councilor for Citizen Security, José Ramón Prado, went further, calling it a “pathogenic environment.”
The children, who slept in cribs despite being well past infancy, also lived among defaced dolls and soiled surroundings. According to El Mundo, they did not appear to be suffering from any illness, despite their parents' claims.
Oviedo Police Chief Javier Lozano branded the home a “house of horrors” and said during a press conference: “We've all been affected by Covid syndrome and what the pandemic has brought, and we can speculate about what led a family to live locked up for so long.”
One officer told El Mundo: “The children were in terrible shape. It was absolutely outrageous. Not malnourished, because they were fed. But they were also dirty… [and] completely cut off from reality, and not just because they didn't go to school.”
He added: “When we took them out of the house, into the garden, where they wouldn't even go outside, they saw a snail and went crazy, freaked out.”
Another eerie detail: the children’s reaction to grass. According to authorities, they touched it like it was something they had never experienced before.
Police say the children had been kept inside since at least December 2021, and court records show the family had been renting the property since October of that year — with only the father's name listed on the lease.
The couple have now been charged on suspicion of domestic violence involving habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment, according to the Oviedo Police Department, as reported by ABC.
The term “COVID syndrome” has been used by officials to describe the lingering psychological and behavioural impact of the pandemic on some individuals. In this case, authorities speculate that the parents’ extreme fear of infection and a distorted perception of ongoing risk may have driven them to enforce draconian restrictions long after the rest of society had reopened.
While the pandemic disrupted daily life for millions, experts have warned about a rise in cases of anxiety, agoraphobia, and other mental health issues that persisted well beyond lockdowns.
The children have been placed in a juvenile centre while the parents remain in pretrial detention without bail.
If you want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child or you have been affected by this story, you can contact the 24/7 Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline on 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453).