THE parents of three children who were allegedly trapped in a hellish “House of Horrors” since the Covid pandemic face 25 years in prison.
The three boys were discovered by police after parents Christian Steffen, 53, and his spouse Melissa Ann Steffen, 48, were taken into custody on charges related to child abuse.
The young German boys, two eight-year-old twins and one 10-year-old, were said to have been found in horrific conditions at the property in Spain.
It is alleged that each child was compelled to wear three face masks and diapers, and forced to sleep in caged beds, as disclosed by a source familiar with the investigation.
Images from within the Oviedo residence displayed the boys’ bed frames adorned with disturbing drawings while they were confined in darkened rooms lacking any natural light.
But despite the piles of rubbish and excrement inside the house it is thought that the two parents were terrified of germs getting into their home.
Referring to the parents, the public prosecutor’s office said it “seeks convictions for each of them totalling 25 years and 4 months in prison, among other penalties and measures”.
They are accused of habitual psychological violence and unlawful detention after allegedly keeping their children locked up from December 2021 to April 2025.
The prosecutor confirmed speculation that the children were “locked up due to an unfounded fear of contracting some disease” at the home in the small Asturian town of Fitoria.
Authorities also demanded that the parents be barred from ever contacting their children ever again, as well as pay a £13,000 fine.
The parents have also reportedly recently filed an appeal against their pre-trial detention – but it was rejected, La Voz de Asturias reported.
It was previously revealed that the youngsters were only saved thanks to a university professor’s secret diary.
The female neighbour, called Silvia, handed cops a “forensic detective” diary made up of a series of data which showed kids were being held at the Steffen’s home.
German-born Christian was registered as the only resident in the affluent home after he started to rent the property in October 2021.
Silvia, who lives just 65ft away from the home, first jotted down claims that she witnessed a little girl playing in the garden.
This later evolved into a slew of evidence as Silvia continued to note what she saw going on in the home.
They included details of the days and times the curtains on the second floor moved and even when the blinds were opened or lowered.
Notes even kept tabs on every occasion the man believed to be Christian left the house to meet delivery drivers or collected food deliveries.
She said she never saw a child leave the home or playing around in the time since making the diary.
Her suspicions continued to grow after she saw the amount and size of supermarket deliveries which the homeowner was receiving.
Despite only one person appearing to live in the house, Silvia noted that there was enough food and drink to feed a whole family each time.
At one point, Silvia even claims she started to hear children’s voices coming from across the street.
After collecting the detailed dossier, the professor handed her notes over to the cops on April 14.
They started to investigate the serious accusations and soon discovered nappies were being purchased.
This sparked a major search inside the property so police could see what was going on inside shortly before Spain’s historic blackout.
Police would go on to thank Silvia for noticing the peculiar shopping list as they labelled the spot as the key clue which helped them arrest the parents.
A city hall source told respected Spanish daily El Mundo: “The neighbour had collected evidence that during school hours no-one left the house and expressed with certainty there had to be children living there, and even claimed to have seen them.
“The shopping list was the clue that set it all off.
“It was the list of a family, not a single person, and there was something that didn’t fit at all which was the striking amount of nappies.”
The source added: “Without that neighbour, the children would almost certainly have gone undetected in that house for many more years.”
It was also revealed that many of the neighbours didn’t even realise that the house was being lived in at all due to how secretive the dad had been.
Since the arrests, cops have spoken out about the horrors inside the home as well as the treatment of the young children.
Police who raided the property told local press the youngsters were made to wear nappies and told when and how many times they could use the toilet.
The three boys were reportedly told they could only lower the blinds in their bedrooms at 5.10pm each day after being allowed to raise them exactly halfway up the windows during daylight hours.
Prosecutors say filthy diapers were even piled up in one of the bedrooms.
A shocking paediatric report on the kids later identified they were suffering from “severe constipation”, El Español reports.
This is reportedly due to them only being allowed to go to the toilet at specific times.
An unnamed investigator Spanish media quoted said: “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.”
Police say once the children were freed one of them knelt down on the grass and “touched it with amazement”.
Oviedo Police Chief Inspector Francisco Javier Lozano said: “We have given three children back their lives.”
German freelance tech recruiter Christian and his US-born wife are both now facing 25 years and four months behind bars if found guilty.
They are currently being investigated on suspicion of domestic violence, psychological mistreatment and child abandonment.
