This story sounds like something straight out of a horror movie. A 19 year old female made a call to 911 claiming that she and her siblings have been held captive by their parents for years. When authorities met the teen, they were surprised at how tiny she appeared to be. It was obvious that she had been neglected and starved. When investigators walked inside of the house, it was even more pitiful than what they imagined.
“”David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin, a former California engineer and his homemaker wife, are accused of what a prosecutor called “human depravity” against their 13 children, for allegedly torturing their offspring in a house of horrors by chaining them to beds in “dark and foul-smelling surroundings,” starving them for years, and subjecting them to beatings and even strangulation.
The chilling accusations of abuse emerged after one of the teenagers, a 17-year-old girl, who was so emaciated she looked age 10, staged a courageous escape by climbing through a window, executing a plan she’d crafted with her siblings for two years, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a January 18, 2018 press conference.
Hestrin released a series of monstrously chilling details in the case; he alleges that the parents would place apple pies on the counter but deny their children – some of whom were adults – food even as they ate it themselves. As a result, their oldest child, a 29-year-old female, is only 82 pounds, he said. The children had never been to the dentist and were subjected to an environment of such intense control that they were not released from their chains even to go to the bathroom, weren’t allowed to shower more than once a year, were denied toys that were strewn around the home unopened, and were only awake at night, the DA alleged.
Authorities, though, said that the children were starved and abused since at least 2010. Authorities confirmed that the Turpin children were home-schooled, but Hestrin said they were so lacking of basic knowledge about life that one didn’t know what a police officer was and another didn’t understand the meaning of the words pills and medication.
In a press conference on January 16, authorities repeatedly praised the courage and bravery of the 17-year-old girl who escaped from the home, also describing the situation in stark terms; “the children were malnourished, it was very dirty and the conditions were horrific,” said Riverside County sheriff’s Capt. Greg Fellows. Some neighbors told UK Mirror they periodically saw the children “scavenging in bins” looking for food when they weren’t memorizing lengthy Bible passages.
“Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that 7 of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29,” according to the release. The 13th child is the one who alerted authorities. Perris is a community near Riverside, California that is about an hour from Los Angeles.
He alleged that the parents “would apparently buy food for themselves and not allow the children to eat it… including apple pies and pumpkin pies.” He said they would leave the pies on the counter for the children to look at but not eat. They weren’t allowed to have toys, but many toys were found inside the house still in their original packaging.
According to Hestrin, the children suffered “severe caloric malnutrition associated with muscle wasting.” He said that “one of the children at age 12-years-old is the weight of an average 7-year-old.” Several of the victims have “have cognitive impairment and… nerve damage” due to “extreme and prolonged physical abuse,” alleged the DA.
The children endured a bizarre existence, reports say. A former neighbor told UK Daily Mail that the children “were frequently taken out late at night by their parents and endured a ‘military style’ existence at home” that allegedly included the “robotic” children “marching in circles around an upstairs bedroom for ‘hours at a time.’” The children spoke together in unison and, as a result, his wife called the children the “clones,” the neighbor told Daily Mail.
Hestrin, the prosecutor, said that all 13 victims – and the parents – would “typically go to sleep around 4 or 5 in the morning, sleep all day and then are up all through the night.”
“One of the reasons for these punishments of being chained up to a bed… if the children were found to wash their hands above the wrist area they were accused of playing in the water and they would be chained up,” alleged the DA, adding “the punishments included frequent beatings and even strangulation.”
“All 13 victims, ranging from the age of 2 to 29, were transported to the Perris Station and interviewed. Both parents were detained and transported to the station for further investigation,” reported sheriff’s officials. “Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) arrived to assist in the investigation. The victims were provided with food and beverages after they claimed to be starving.”‘
Its sad to know that this kind of abuse toward our children is happening right here in America. How could these parents be so cruel? Why would you only allow your child one shower a year, or chain them to furniture, or make them walk around in circles for hours? And what’s the deal with bringing pies inside the house only for the children to watch, but never eat?
David and Louise made a first-time appearance in court yesterday wearing dark suits and shackles. How fitting! The judge should not only set the bond at $12 million for each of them, but he should also make a ruling that they be bound by shackles until this case goes to trial.
David and Louise Turpin are monsters who were privileged to reproduce beautiful babies. And because of their sick and twisted acts, we have 12 individuals who will be emotionally and psychologically scarred forever.
