A German couple in Spain has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison for keeping their children confined in an extremely filthy house for years.
The three children, aged 8 and 10 at the time, were rescued last April from what a police officer described as a “house of horrors” in northern Spain.
Police reported that the children - a pair of twins and their younger brother - were found severely malnourished. They were wearing dirty pyjamas and nappies, and showed clear signs of neglect.
The house was filled with rubbish, and faeces were found near a gravely ill cat.
The conditions had lasted for three and a half years before a neighbour raised the alarm, prompting a police intervention.
The parents claimed that they had isolated their children to protect them from illnesses like COVID-19.
The 54-year-old father and 49-year-old mother were convicted of psychological abuse and neglect but were acquitted of unlawful detention.
