German couple on trial in Spain for locking kids in ‘house of horror’
A German couple are on trial in Spain accused of locking their three children in a “house of horror” filled with rubbish for three and a half years.
The trial opened on Tuesday at the provincial court in the northern city of Oviedo behind closed doors to protect the underage victims.
The children, then 8-year-old twins and a 10-year-old boy, were freed at the end of April 2025 after a neighbour alerted the police. Investigators spoke of a “house of horror.”
The public prosecutor is seeking a prison sentence of 25 years and four months for the 54-year-old man and his 49-year-old wife.
The defendants are accused of psychological abuse within the family, deprivation of liberty and neglect.
According to the Spanish judiciary, the parents maintain their innocence and claim that they isolated their three young children from the outside world to protect them from contracting diseases such as Covid-19.
The father is German and the mother is a German-US dual national. Further personal details have not been released by the Spanish authorities.
The hearing is scheduled to last two days and is expected to conclude on Wednesday. However, the verdict is not expected until a later date.
A view of the house where a German couple allegedly kept their three children locked up for years. The German couple are on trial in Spain accused of locking their three children in a “house of horror” filled with rubbish for three and a half years. Jorge Peteiro/Europapress/dpa
