3 children locked in ‘house of horrors’ by parents since COVID-19 pandemic rescued: Reports
German siblings aged 8 and 10 were freed from a house in Spain where their parents kept them under extreme COVID lockdown for years.
In a deeply disturbing case that has shocked the community, three young siblings—8-year-old twins and their 10-year-old brother, were rescued on Monday in Oviedo, a city in northwest Spain. The children had been kept confined inside their home under extreme lockdown conditions by their parent since 2021, with little to no contact with the outside world, according to reports from the New York Post.
The children, all German nationals, had reportedly been living in isolation enforced by their parents, who refused to lift pandemic-era restrictions long after the world had moved on.
“As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before,” an investigator told local media.
Photos released by Spanish news outlets showed the children wearing face masks as they stepped out of the house. Witnesses said the kids appeared overwhelmed and reached down to touch the grass, seemingly in awe of the outdoors.
Parents arrested
Their parents, a 48-year-old German-American woman and her 53-year-old German husband, have been arrested on charges of domestic violence and child abandonment. According to investigators, both were believed to be suffering from what they referred to as “COVID syndrome,” a psychological condition that caused them to maintain extreme safety measures for years.
Authorities were alerted after concerned neighbours reported that the children had not been seen going to school.
“The children were in terrible shape. It was absolutely outrageous,” an investigator told El Mundo.
