Spanish Parents Jailed for 4-Year Child House Arrest

In a case that has profoundly impacted Spain, a couple was sentenced on Monday to two years and ten months in prison each. They were found guilty of family abandonment and causing psychological harm to their three children.

The children, who were aged eight (twins) and ten at the time of their rescue last April, had been confined to their Oviedo home for nearly four years. Their confinement began around the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Authorities discovered the boys in a state of severe neglect within a squalid environment. They exhibited marked motor difficulties, wore diapers, and slept in cribs amidst piles of rubbish and stockpiled medication. They had no access to shoes that fit and showed fascination with simple elements like grass and snails upon their release.

The prosecution stated the children had not been outdoors in four years and did not know their relatives. The prolonged use of diapers resulted in poor bowel and bladder control, and they struggled with mobility.

The defense contended the parents made wrong but not criminal decisions. The couple, a 53-year-old German citizen and a 48-year-old dual German-US citizen, had been renting the property since October 2021. They were ordered to pay 30,000 euros to each child and lost custody for at least three years and four months. The children are now under social services care.