A couple who kept their three young children locked inside a squalid house for nearly four years have been jailed in a case that has shaken Spain. Authorities rescued three boys—twins, then aged eight, and their ten-year-old brother—from the 'House of Horrors' in the northern city of Oviedo in April last year. The children had been forced to remain indoors since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shocking Conditions
The children were found with marked motor difficulties, wearing diapers and sleeping in cribs in a filthy house full of rubbish and stockpiled medication. Their parents, who developed a fear of the outside world after the pandemic, were sentenced to two years and ten months in prison each on Monday. The couple were found guilty of family abandonment and causing psychological harm but were cleared of more stringent charges of unlawful detention. Prosecutors had sought 25 years in prison.
Police Discovery
Police officers who rescued the children said they found bags upon bags of rubbish piling up at the bottom of the stairs upon entering the house. 'They had no television, no electronic devices for the children, hardly any games, not even shoes in their size; the shoes the children had were the size they wore four years ago, when they arrived,' sources close to the investigation told El País. Officers were shocked by how the children reacted to going outside during the operation. 'They were touching the grass, breathing as if they had never done so before in their lives, they saw a snail and were completely fascinated.'
Prosecution and Defense
The prosecution said the children had not been outside in four years, not even into their own garden, and did not know their relatives. The prolonged use of diapers had left the children with poor bowel and bladder control. They walked with hunched backs and struggled to go up and down stairs, according to La Sexta. The defense argued the parents had made 'a series of decisions, certainly wrong, incorrect, but not criminal' during the trial.
Arrest and Sentencing
Police arrested the couple in April 2025 after finding the children, following a tip-off from a neighbor. The father is a 53-year-old German citizen, while the mother, 48, is a dual citizen of Germany and the United States. They had been renting a chalet in a rural area of Oviedo since October 2021. The parents were ordered to pay compensation of 30,000 euros (£26,000) to each child and stripped of custody for at least three years and four months. The children have been placed in the care of social services. The ruling has not been made public due to sensitive information affecting the victims' privacy. Javier Muñoz, the lawyer for the mother, said the children were home-schooled, had 'a stable family life' and were well fed. Muñoz said the couple were 'moderately satisfied' with the sentence but were considering appealing.
