'House of horror': Children aged 8 and 10, prisoned by parents since Covid, rescued

Three children, 8-year-old twin boys and a 10-year-old boy, were recovered from the house of horror in the Spanish city of Oviedo, where they had been confined since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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The children’s parents, a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old American woman, were arrested by the Oviedo Police Department on 28th April. They were charged with domestic violence, with habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment.

The investigators told the local newspaper El Comercio that the parents trapped their children in a room after encountering COVID-19 syndrome. They lived in fear until the police raided the villa during the power outage in the outskirts of the northern Spanish city. 

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Squalid Conditions of the House

The Children were forced to sleep in caged beds and were not allowed to step outdoors. They were forced to wear masks and children's diapers. There were defaced dolls, stockpiles of masks, medications and garbage inside the house. The police also spotted a sick cat inside the house requiring medical attention.

The children were not sick but dirty. Because of the confinement, they were scared when taken outside to the garden by the agents.

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The family moved into the house in October 2021, and since then they have been living in reclusion till now despite the covid restrictions being lifted in Spain in March 2022. The house was registered under the name of the father. 

The neighbours reported that the family used to live a solitary lifestyle; they had only witnessed the father step outside occasionally to gather supplies.

An investigator reflecting on the Covid-19 pandemic told newspaper El Mundo, “we have all been affected by covid-19 syndrome and the consequences of the pandemic. We can all reflect on what led a family to live in confinement for so long.

According to the Spanish outlet El Mundo, the children were clearly at risk of unsanitation and were completely cut off from reality. Chief Superintendent Francisco Javier Lozano termed the house the “House of Horror”.

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