We will probably never know the true extent of the mental and physical damage caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns, but when I heard this story, I couldn't help but wonder just how many people are living this way.
Earlier this week, authorities in Oviedo, Spain, arrested a couple who had basically been holding their children hostage since 2021. The couple, a 53-year-old German man named Christian Steffen and his 48-year-old wife, Melissa Ann (who appears to have dual citizenship in Germany and the United States), rented the Spanish home in October 2021. A neighbor reached out to police last month and told them that the children — a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins — hadn't been attending school. Authorities interviewed other neighbors, who corroborated the story, some saying they hadn't seen the family at all since December 2021 but could hear the children making noises inside.
Police apparently monitored the house and noticed that the father would go out for groceries or get mail, but no one else left the house. On Monday, they made their way inside the home after the father reportedly agreed to let them investigate. Officers say the father told them to wait a minute before they could come inside, and the mother told them to be careful because her children were "very sick." She made the children put on at least three masks before they approached them, and the father asked the police to wear masks inside.
While the children weren't sick at all, they were incredibly dirty, police say. The house was nasty, too. They say it was filled with an abundance of medication and garbage, including feces, and the children were forced to sleep in cribs meant for infants and wear diapers. They also found "defaced monsters and dolls" in the children's bedrooms, and the kids didn't own any shoes that fit them.
They literally hadn't been outside in years.
When police brought the children outside, they said they breathed deeply as if they'd never been exposed to fresh air. They also touched the grass as if they'd never seen it before, and when they saw a snail in the garden, they panicked.
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
The children were well-fed, and they had a "study room," where they'd learn to read and do math, but officers say they were terrified of strangers and stayed close to their mom until they were removed from the home. The group of siblings was taken to a local hospital for health examinations and is now in the Ministry of Welfare's custody. It's being reported that they're currently living in a juvenile center.
Both parents have been arrested and charged with domestic violence, with habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment. They're currently being held without bail.
Police described the situation as "completely cut off from reality," and blamed "COVID syndrome."
The father, who is described as a "former philosophy student with a doctorate from Hamburg University who was currently working as a freelance senior tech recruiter and HR manager," was said to be disheveled. Police say that both parents admitted that the children hadn't left the house in years and acted as if they didn't understand why that was wrong.
By all accounts, it sounds like this couple was suffering from some major mental illness, but it will be interesting to learn more, especially if this was truly brought on by the COVID-19 lockdowns. At least these kids are safe now, and while I'm sure they have a long road ahead, I hope they're able to recover mentally and physically and enjoy at least some part of their childhood.
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