Harrowing new details in the case of 13 children who were tortured by their parents emerged on Thursday in a press conference as prosecutors officially charged their parents with 38 offenses including torture and a lewd act.
David and Louise Turpin remain behind bars and are awaiting their first court appearance after being arrested at home in Perris, California, on Sunday when one of their children escaped and called 911.
At Thursday’s press conference, the Riverside District Attorney’s Office told how they kept the children up all night and slept during the day in a suspected attempt to avoid any outsiders witnessing the abuse.
They were regularly beaten and occasionally strangled. The only activity the children – who were chained up for months at a time – were allowed was to write journals.
Hundreds were recovered from the home and they are likely to be used as evidence against the parents.
Before Sunday’s escape, the children had been plotting an escape for two years, he said.
When the 17-year-old escaped on Sunday, she at first had another sibling with her but that daughter got frightened and turned back.
David and Louise Turpin made their 13 children stay up all night and the family slept all day to avoid raising suspicion that they were being abused, it was revealed on Thursday
Riverside District Attorney Michael Hestrin was emotional and solemn as he revealed more details of the case on Thursday
None of the children have ever seen a dentist and none have seen a doctor for four years, it was revealed.
It was also revealed that David Turpin allegedly sexually abused one of the children.
Among the 38 charges he now faces is one of a lewd act on a child under 14.
Each parent has been charged with 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, six counts, of neglect and seven counts of abuse of a dependant adult.
Their bail was at $13million – one for each child they abused.
The couple will be arraigned on Thursday afternoon.
District Attorney Michael Hestrin said all of the children are in hospital and are ‘relieved’.
Among the most shocking revelations of abuse were;
- The children were made to stay awake all night and sleep all day, often going to bed at between 4am and 5am
- Their only permitted activity was to keep journals – hundreds of which were recovered and will likely be used as evidence
- David Turpin is accused of a lewd act against one child – one of his daughters, under the age of 14
- The children had been planning to escape for two years before Sunday, when they were rescued
- The 17-year-old daughter who raised the alarm left the house with another sibling but that child became frightened and turned back
- The parents began using chains and padlocks to tie the children to their beds after one escaped with rope. They would sometimes be chained up for months
- One of the older boys was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him there, waited for him until it finished then accompanied him home
- The couple’s youngest child, a two-year-old, was the only one they did not starve
- The 29-year-old woman who was rescued weighted just 82 lbs
- The children were tied up or beaten if they washed their hands ‘above the wrist’ because the parents said it amounted to them ‘playing in the water’
Some did not know what a police officer was when they were rescued and many are mentally impaired as a result of what he called ‘severe, prolonged and pervasive abuse’.
While the children starved, the parents bought food including pumpkin and apple pie and kept it out on worktops for them to look at and desire.
According to Hestrin, the abuse began in 2010 and has intensified ever since.
One of the children, a boy, was allowed out of the home to attend college classes but Louise accompanied him.
When they lived in Texas, the children at one stage lived alone and were held hostage in a property which their parents allegedly visited only to occasionally drop off food.
The only child who was safe from their torture was their two-year-old, according to prosecutors.
She showed no signs of malnutrition.
Hestrin said that the abuse began in 2010.
At the time, the parents would tie the children up as punishment with rope. One child recalled being ‘hogtied’.
When they managed to escape, they moved on to using chains and padlocked.
Prosecutors did not elaborate on the physical condition of each child other than to say that they were severely malnourished and some have suffered mental impairment.
When police took them into protective custody, the 29-year-old woman who was found inside weighed just 82lbs.
A 12-year-old inside the home is the average weight of a seven-year-old.
It was also revealed that the couple had three children tied up when police first knocked on the door. As they waited to be allowed in, Louise and David untied two of the children from furniture.
When they entered the home, the only child who remained shackled was a 22-year-old, according to the responding deputies.
David and Louise Turpin now have a total of 38 charges including torture, imprisonment, neglect, abuse and lewd acts