Community members have banded together to raise more than $400,000 for the 13 children who were abused for years by their parents at a ‘House of Horrors’ in Perris, California.
Two weeks ago, David and Louise Turpin’s 17-year-old daughter escaped the home and brought police back to rescue her 12 siblings – some of whom were chained to their beds as punishment by their ultra-religious parents.
Except for the youngest child, the rest of the children (who range in age from two to 29) were malnourished and had to be hospitalized.
More than $400,000 have been raised for the 13 Turpin children who were found living in horrible conditions at their parents home in Perris, California last month
The case shocked the nation, even more so those who lived near the Turpins and never guessed the torture that was happening inside the respectable-looking home.
It inspired many in the community to band together to raise money for the children, who will no doubt struggle to deal with the abuse for the rest of their lives.
Two main funds have been set up to collect money for the children, one with the Riverside University Health System Foundation and the other with the Corona Chamber of Commerce. Eventually the funds will be merged and put into a single account.
As of Wednesday, the foundation had collected $249,365 and the Chamber of Commerce had collected $178,000.
The foundation said their donations came from as far away as Germany and Singapore.
Bobby Spiegel (pictured), president of the Corona Chamber of Commerce, helped organize a ‘dine out’ fundraiser on Wednesday, where 40 local restaurants agreed to donate 15 to 20 percent of their proceeds to the children
That number is expected to grow since the Chamber of Commerce organized a ‘dine out’ fundraiser on Wednesday involving 40 local restaurants.
The restaurants who participated in the fundraiser agreed to donate 15 to 20 percent of each bill to the children, with diners’ permission.
DailyMail.com reached out to the Chamber of Commerce to learn how much they had made in the fundraiser, but did not immediately receive a response on Friday.
The Chamber of Commerce hoped to raise $10,000 during the event.
While the total amount certainly is a large number, it’s not nearly enough.
‘We’re talking about 13 lives. $400,000 is not going to be much in the long scheme of things, so that’s why we did this dine out event,’ Corona Chamber of Commerce President Bobby Spiegel told ABC 7.
According to a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control, the average lifetime cost for a victim of child maltreatment is $210,000 when you figure in the costs of healthcare, productivity losses, child welfare, criminal justice and special education.
The children’s medical bills alone are going to be astronomical, since they are still recovering from their years of abuse in the hospital. The adults are being cared for at one hospital, and the minors at another.
Meanwhile, the children’s parents remain behind bars, awaiting trial. The couple face 12 charges of torture, 12 charges of false imprisonment, seven charges of abuse on a dependent adult and six charges of child abuse.
David Turpin faces an additional charge of a lewd act on a child under 14 years old.
They face the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in prison if convicted.