Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
In a shocking case, three children were reportedly discovered living under extreme conditions, resembling a prison-like environment, due to enforced COVID ‘lockdown’ rules, even after such restrictions had been lifted.
A German couple residing in Spain has been apprehended for allegedly confining their three children and compelling them to adhere to pandemic measures, such as mask-wearing, for the past four years.
On Monday (April 28), the children, comprising eight-year-old twins and a 10-year-old, were rescued from what is being described as a ‘house of horrors’ in Oviedo. They had been confined since approximately December 2021.
Upon their release, police noticed that the children exhibited unusual behavior outdoors, showing fascination with the grass and a snail.
An investigator said: “As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before,” as noted by the New York Post.
The situation came to light when a neighbor lodged a complaint on April 14, reporting that the children had not been attending school, according to El Comercio.
Initially, Oviedo Police Chief Javier Lozano stated that nothing seemed amiss, but suspicion grew following surveillance that showed the 53-year-old father was the sole person leaving the home for groceries and mail.
Other neighbors reported that the family had not stepped out of the house since December 2021.
When police made contact, the father reportedly permitted them entry, during which they observed the mother, a 48-year-old German-American, placing three masks on each child, as reported by El Mundo.
She allegedly cautioned officers to ‘be careful,’ claiming her children were ‘very sick.’
Inside the home, authorities uncovered a troubling scene filled with trash, excessive medication, and masks, creating a ‘clearly unsanitary situation’.
José Ramón Prado, Councilor for Citizen Security, described it as a ‘pathogenic environment.’
The children, despite their ages, were found sleeping in cribs and surrounded by ‘defaced monsters and dolls.’
Further investigation revealed that the children did not appear to be suffering from any illnesses.
Lozano referred to the residence as a ‘house of horrors’ in a press briefing, while another 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.”
The officer continued: “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.”
The children have since been placed in a juvenile center, and their parents are in pretrial detention without bail.
The couple, alleged to be suffering from ‘COVID syndrome’, face charges of domestic violence involving habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment, as reported by the Oviedo Police Department and ABC.
Lozano commented: “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.”
If you’ve been affected by these issues or wish to speak confidentially about a child’s welfare, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) is available 24/7, serving callers from the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.