THIS is the first image of the father-of-three accused of keeping his young children trapped in a Spanish “house of horrors” since the start of the Covid pandemic.
Christian Steffen, 53, and his wife Melissa Ann Steffen, 48, were arrested for alleged child abuse after the police raided the house in Spain.
The eight-year-old twins and a ten-year-old boy were found in appalling conditions – each wearing three face masks, forced to wear diapers, and sleep in caged beds.
A source familiar with the ongoing investigation stated: “They had a schedule and a limited number of times per day they could use the bathroom because the rest of the time they were required to wear diapers.”
The young boys were reportedly suffering from “severe constipation” when they were discovered because they weren’t allowed to go to the toilet when they wanted.
An unnamed investigator told Spanish media: “The children’s parents claimed the youngsters didn’t know how to control their bowel movements but the paediatric report has shown that to be false.”
The parents also used black market medicines containing cannabis derivative THC to treat the kids for alleged deficit attention disorders which investigators say they are not even sure the youngsters were suffering.
The children were reportedly kept out of school and were forbidden to leave the house.
The mum-of-three told cops they had asked officials in Germany – where they lived before moving to northern Spain – for permission to educate their kids at home after the initial Covid crisis.
The family emigrated after being warned that social services would be alerted if they took them out of school.
A guest room in the horror house had been turned into a makeshift classroom where the boys had reportedly learned to read, write and draw.
The police said the house was full of rubbish and old medicines as well as filthy pet excrement and used tampons.
But strangely the couple were reportedly using half a dozen air purifier machines they kept in their bedroom.
The children were reportedly told to lower the blinds on their bedroom windows at 5.10pm each day after being allowed to raise them exactly halfway up the windows during daylight hours.
They had no television to watch or electronic games to play with and wore pyjamas all day and all night – and many neighbours have admitted they had no idea anyone was even living in the house.
Cops were only called when a resident in the area raised the alarm.
The woman reportedly heard voices that sounded like children coming from the house despite never having seen anyone leave the house to play or go to school.
After several days of surveillance cops were clear that more than just the man they saw coming in and out had to live there.
The size of the boxes of food of the orders that the man brought into the home were the biggest giveaway.
But nothing could prepare the agents for what they would find when they entered the horror house.
When they wanted to take them out of the building they did not even have shoes of their size as they had not bought shoes for years.
The police added that when the children were freed, one of them knelt on the grass and touched it with amazement.
An officer said: “They touched the grass and breathed fresh air as if they had never done so before in their lives.
“They saw a snail and they were completely taken aback.”
The chief commissioner of the Local Police of Oviedo, Francisco Javier Lozano explained the details of the operation leading to the arrest of the couple at 2.45pm on Monday.
The initial search of the house was reportedly made more difficult because Spain had been plunged into darkness by the electricity outrage.
When the cops knocked on the front door, the father answered but asked the officers to wait for a few minutes so the children could put their masks on.
One police officer told the Spanish press: “They were very scared and around the mother, who told us all the time that the little ones had serious pathologies and that we should not approach them.
“They had three masks each on top of each other. They were oblivious to any contact with reality.”
Lozano added: “We have dismantled the house of horrors”.
Having been checked out at the Central University Hospital of Asturias the children have now been placed under the guardianship of the Government of the Principality.
And the boys’ parents have been warned they face possible prison sentences of between five and seven years.
They are being investigated on suspicion of domestic violence, psychological mistreatment and child abandonment.
It is not yet clear who is defending them, but lawyers hired by the couple are expected to consider an expert analysis of their clients’ mental health amid speculation it had suffered as a result of the Covid crisis.
Christian reportedly worked as a freelance senior tech recruiter and HR manager, having obtained a doctorate in philosophy from Hamburg University.
He previously worked as a marketing consultant and head of a call centre at a telecommunications company.
