Spain arrests couple who imprisoned their children due to COVID-19 obsession

Spanish authorities have arrested a husband and wife who imprisoned their three children due to an obsessive fear of COVID-19.

In 2021, Christian Steffen and his wife Melissa Ann Steffen were living in Germany with their two three-year-old twins and five-year-old son. According to Spanish media, the Steffens refused to send their their children to school for fear they would catch the virus, but also could not homeschool them because German law prohibits home education. In October 2021, they moved to a rented apartment in Oviedo, Spain.

Since then, the children have never seen the light of day. Christian Steffen, who has a PhD in philosophy, was the only one to venture outside, which he did only to pick up supplies. A neighbor recalls seeing Steffen occasionally, noticing that he always wore a mask. She thought he lived alone until eventually she saw signs that made her suspect there were other inhabitants. On some occasions, she thought she saw children peeking behind the curtains. Her suspicions grew when she saw Steffen arrive home with diapers he had purchased.

‘Obsessed with . . . the pandemic’

She notified police, who launched an investigation and eventually decided to visit the home on April 28th. Steffen and his wife initially tried to bar police from entering, saying the children were “very sick.” When the officers insisted, they were told to wear masks and were allowed entry. They found Steffen “barefoot and disheveled” and the three children—now eight and ten years old—in diapers, each wearing three masks.

Police found the house littered with trash and dirty diapers, but also with ozone machines to purify the air. The family reportedly used an excessive amount of water for compulsive showering, about three times more than average families. They only drank bottled water. The blinds remained closed, though Steffen allowed the children’s blinds to remain halfway open until 5:10 PM every day, when they were to be fully lowered.

“They were obsessed with the idea that their children had serious illnesses and were going to die from the pandemic,” sources told El Español.

Steffen and his wife remain in custody and have been charged with child abuse, abandonment, and unlawful detention.

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