Two California parents are facing life in prison for the abuse of their 13 children. Louise Anna Turpin, 49, and David Allen Turpin, 57 entered in not guilty pleas in court on Thursday afternoon in Riverside County District Attorney's Office. Both are being held on a $13 million dollar bail. One million per child. The couples next court date is February 23rd and could be looking up to facing 94 years to life in prison.
The charges include child abuse, torture, lewd acts on a child under the age of a child under the age of 14 and false imprisonment.
The parents would buy food and prohibit the children from eating with the exception of the 2 year old. For some reason, they were allowing the 2 year old to have enough to eat.
The age of the children ranged from age 2 to age 29. The children would be up until around 4 or 5 a.m. before going to sleep. The children were tied in ropes and if they escaped the ropes they were chains and locks. The children often beaten and their punishments would last for weeks or even months at a time. Which sometimes included strangulation as their punishment.
The children were only allowed to bathe once a year. If the children washed their hands above their wrists they would be chained up for punishment for playing with water, according to authorities.
Many of the siblings suffer from cognitive impairment and neurological impairment as a result of the abuse.
Authorities say, the 17 year girl who had escaped on Sunday had been planning the escape for 2 years with siblings. Police say, she climbed out a window with another sibling and dialed 911 on a deactivated cell phone once outside the house and then turned back, because she was afraid of being caught.
The children were home schooled on the scriptures, but lacked the basic knowledge of life. In fact, did not even know what a police officer was.
David Turpin is listed in a state Department of Education directory as the principal of Sandcastle Day School, a private K-12 school that he ran from the house. It opened in 2011, and enrolled six students during the 2016-2017 school year, one in each the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th grades, according to the directory.
David Turpin posted pictures of the family on Facebook at Disneyland and wedding photos to make them appear normal.
A 4-year-old found beaten and abused, she thought her name was ‘Idiot,’ according to police.
District Attorney Michael Hestrin said at a news conference Thursday, this is an ongoing investigation. The children were allowed to write in journals and recorded their abuse. Police found stacks and stacks of journals where the children had recorded their abuse that will be a great resource into the investigation of their abuse.
