Tom Ewart Smith
POLICE have rescued three young children from a ‘house of horrors’ in rural Oviedo, where they had allegedly been confined for four years by their expatriate parents in conditions of extreme neglect.
The children – eight-year-old twins and a ten-year-old – were found on Monday during a police operation that coincided with the nationwide blackout.
Officers entered the rented property between 11.15am and 2.45pm.
Inside, they discovered the children living among faeces, garbage and a sick cat, with no fresh air entering the house.
The children had reportedly been kept indoors since the latter part of the pandemic in 2021.
None had been enrolled in school, and all were wearing nappies under their pyjamas when discovered, along with three face masks, one on top of the other.
“When we brought them outside, they all began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outdoors before,” an officer involved in the rescue said.
“One of them touched the grass with his hands, amazed.”
The children, who spoke mainly English, were described as ‘seriously neglected’ by social services.
Two baby cots without legs served as beds for the twins, while the eldest slept on a makeshift bed also on the floor.
All the windows had been sealed shut to prevent visibility from the outside.
The parents, a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old woman with German and American citizenship, face charges of illegal detention, child neglect, and habitual psychological abuse.
A judge has ordered their immediate imprisonment without bail, and stripped them of parental rights.
Police say the pair had lived in the rented house since October 2021, but the father only registered his residency in February 2022.
During several days of surveillance, officers observed no activity except for occasional food deliveries, which appeared excessive for a single occupant.
Authorities believe the couple were working remotely.
The case came to light after a neighbour contacted Oviedo’s child and family welfare office on April 14, expressing concern that children were living in the house despite never being seen outside.
“We have returned three children to life. I never imagined something like this could happen in our country,” said Chief Commissioner Francisco Javier Lozano at a press conference on Wednesday.
The children are now under the protection of the regional government of Asturias and being housed in a care facility while experts assess their physical, psychological and emotional state.
Regional welfare minister, Marta del Arco, said: “It’s too early to assess the full extent of the trauma,” while also assuring that the children are now receiving the appropriate care.
