Spanish Couple Sentenced to Nearly 3 Years for Locking Children Inside 'House of Horrors' Over COVID-19 Fears
By
Adam England
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
A Spanish couple, Christian Steffen (54) and Melissa Ann Steffen (49), were sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for keeping their three children — a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins — locked inside their home in Oviedo, Spain for three and a half years under the guise of protecting them from COVID-19. Police rescued the children in April 2025. The parents were found guilty of domestic violence involving habitual psychological abuse and child abandonment on May 11.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledA couple who kept their young children inside what officials described as a 'house of horrors' for three and a half years, claiming they were protecting them from the COVID-19 pandemic, have been sentenced.
Parents Christian Steffen, 54, and Melissa Ann Steffen, 49, were arrested and charged with domestic violence with habitual psychological abuse, child abandonment.
In April 2025, police in Oviedo, Spain confirmed they rescued three children — a 10-year-old and 8-year-old twins — from a home in the area over three years after they were locked up following the final wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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