Authorities Arrest Parents For Allegedly Keeping Children Inside Home To Follow COVID Restrictions For Years

A horrifying report out of Spain details the story of three siblings trapped inside a COVID lockdown house since 2021.

According to the New York Post, three siblings, 8-year-old twins and a 10-year-old, were rescued from a home in Oviedo after being kept inside for years.

The siblings reportedly had to wear masks while inside the house.

“As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before,” an investigator said, according to the New York Post.

Three siblings rescued from house of horrors after ‘Covid syndrome’ parents kept them locked inside since 2021 https://t.co/aAmkrv8G5L pic.twitter.com/PnOq6nmy1L

— New York Post (@nypost) May 2, 2025

From the New York Post:

Harrowing photos published by Spanish media showed the kids, who are German, emerging from the home wearing face masks.

Immediately after stepping outside, cops said, the children appeared to be amazed and went to touch the grass.

The children’s parents, only identified as a 48-year-old German-American woman and her 53-year-old German husband, were arrested and slapped with domestic violence and child abandonment charges.

Investigators said the parents were suffering from “COVID syndrome” and had allegedly forced the entire family to live under strict lockdown conditions for several years.

Cops made the grim discovery after neighbors reported that the children living inside hadn’t been going to school.

“The children were in terrible shape. It was absolutely outrageous,” an investigator told El Mundo.

Parents suffering from ‘COVID syndrome’ kept kids inside for nearly four yearshttps://t.co/s5Ehcw2v6k#Spain #CovidSyndrome pic.twitter.com/bA07f1dc1Z

— Daily Star (@dailystar) May 2, 2025

Per The Economic Times:

Neighbors told police that the children had not been seen or sent to school. This led to an investigation. When police entered the home, they found that the children were clean but had been isolated. They were not malnourished, but they were cut off from the outside world. Investigators said the children had no contact with nature or other people.

One officer said the children were shocked by simple things outside. They reacted strongly to touching grass and seeing a snail. Investigators said the children had never experienced these things before due to their isolation.

The parents believed strict COVID rules were still needed and kept the children inside under continued fear of infection.

The parents have been arrested and charged with child abandonment and domestic violence by Spanish authorities.