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. The parents, a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old woman with dual German-US citizenship, were each sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for family abandonment and causing psychological harm.
Authorities rescued the three boys – twins aged eight and their 10-year-old brother – from the “house of horrors” in Oviedo last April. The children had been confined since the Covid-19 pandemic and were found wearing diapers, sleeping in cribs, and living in a filthy house filled with rubbish and stockpiled medication. They had marked motor difficulties and had not been outside in four years.
Police officers who entered the home described finding bags of rubbish piled at the bottom of the stairs. The children had no shoes in their size, no electronic devices, and few toys. Officers were shocked by the children’s reaction to the outdoors: “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.”
The prosecution said the prolonged use of diapers had left the children with poor bowel and bladder control, and they walked with hunched backs. The parents, who developed a fear of the outside world during the pandemic, were cleared of unlawful detention charges. Prosecutors had sought 25-year sentences.
The couple were ordered to pay €30,000 (£26,000) compensation to each child and lost custody for at least three years and four months. The children are now in social services care. The parents’ lawyer said they were “moderately satisfied” with the sentence but were considering an appeal.
