A German couple have been arrested in Spain after allegedly keeping their three kids locked up in a ‘house of horrors’ since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The boys, one aged 10 and twins aged eight, had not been allowed outside since December 2021, Spanish police told local media.
They were reportedly forced to wear face masks and nappies and slept in caged beds.
The parents, Christian Steffen, 53, and Melissa Ann Steffen, 48, are said to have locked all doors and windows of the house in Oviedo, which was filled with rubbish, animal faeces and old medicine.
‘As soon as we got them out, all three began to take deep breaths as if they had never been in the fresh air before,’ a Spanish official told La Nueva España.
Upon exiting, one of the children fell to the ground and touched the grass ‘in amazement’.
One police officer said: ‘They were very scared and around the mother, who told us all the time that the little ones had serious pathologies and that we should not approach them.
‘They had three masks each on top of each other. They were oblivious to any contact with reality.’
A neighbour reportedly notified police after hearing the voices of children whom they’d never seen go to school.
According to German broacaster DW, no action was taken at the time.
It’s not yet clear what triggered the rescue operation, which took place on Wednesday.
Speaking of the moment officers called at the house, Chief Inspector Francisco Javier Lozano said: ‘At first, there was nothing particularly striking.’
The children’s father appeared ‘disheveled, barefoot’, Lozano added. ‘He asked us to wear masks and keep our distance.’
‘He immediately said there were minors in the house. But to our surprise, not only did that happen, but neither parent denied that they had been isolated for years, nor did they show any special knowledge of having done anything wrong.’
The parents reportedly put ‘up to three masks’ on each child before letting police in, warning officers the boys were very sick.
‘The children were in a deplorable state,’ one officer told El Mundo. ‘They weren’t malnourished, because they were fed. But they were also dirty and completely disconnected from reality.’
The kids’ mother, who was born in the USA, reportedly said they believed they were doing what was best to keep the kids safe.
The children, who spoke mostly in English,
Lozano added: ‘We have dismantled the house of horrors.’
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