Prosecutors say 13 malnourished children found in captivity in California were chained as punishment and the 17-year-old who escaped and contacted police had been plotting to flee from her parents for two years.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Thursday that another sibling escaped with the 17-year-old over the weekend but turned back out of fear.
Hestrin says all 13 siblings were severely malnourished and as a result some have cognitive impairment and a lack of basic knowledge of life. He says a 29-year-old female victim weighed 82 pounds.
Hestrin says none of the victims were allowed to shower more than once a year.
He called it “pervasive, prolonged child abuse.”
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, have been charged with committing years of torture and abuse and could face up to life in prison. The pair are scheduled to make their first court appearance later today.
Authorities say the situation came to light early Sunday when their 17-year-old daughter climbed out a window of their home, called 911 and showed deputies photos that substantiated her story. Deputies found some of the children chained to furniture when they entered.
The grandparents of the children say their son’s family looked happy and healthy when they last visited the family in California six years ago.
“They were just like any ordinary family,” said Betty Turpin, the 81-year-old mother of David Turpin. “And they had such good relationships. I’m not just saying this stuff. These kids, we were amazed. They were ‘sweetie’ this and ‘sweetie’ that to each other.”
Betty Turpin and her husband, James Turpin, of Princeton, W. Va., visited her son’s family for five days at their previous home in Murrieta, Calif.
Betty Turpin told the Southern California News Group on Wednesday that they are still in shock from learning that her son and his wife were arrested this week, and their children, ages two to 29, were found malnourished with some in shackles.
Betty Turpin said her son told her he had so many kids because God wanted him to. She said her son shared her Pentecostal Christian faith, but he wasn’t affiliated with a church in California.
“I feel they were model Christians,” she said. “It’s hard to believe all of this. Over the years, the Lord knows what happened.”
Trying to connect with grandkids
James Turpin said during their visit, “they all looked to me well-adjusted. They weren’t skinny or nothing. They were joyous to see us.”
He said they were dealing with social workers in an attempt to connect with their grandchildren, who are hospitalized as they recover from their years-long ordeal.
On Wednesday, authorities searched the couple’s current home in Perris, 100 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles, where the 17-year-old girl jumped out the window and called 911 on Sunday. Investigators removed dozens of boxes, what appeared to be two safes and pieces of a bed frame.
Media converged on the couple’s home Monday after news of the children’s rescue came to light. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
Some siblings were shackled to furniture in the foul-smelling four-bedroom home that looked normal from the outside.
The Turpins have lived in two Riverside County communities since moving to California in 2011, and police said they were never called to either home, nor were any reports fielded by child protective services.
‘Remarkable’ escape
It’s not clear what motivated the Turpins to live a secluded life with their large brood or what went on in the house.
Nor is it clear why the teen girl fled when she did.
‘The power that must have been exerted to keep an entire family like that for so long must have been pretty sophisticated.’ – Dr. Bruce Perry, psychiatrist
Psychiatrists say that even in cases of extreme deprivation, it’s common for feelings of helplessness or confusion to lead to staying in place despite opportunities to flee.
“This happens all the time. The number of individuals who would immediately respond to an opportunity where they could get away is very small compared to the number of people who would have that paralysis and insecurity and confusion about what to do,” said Dr. Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist and senior fellow at the Child Trauma Academy in Houston.
The vulnerable girl might have been shamed, beaten or threatened with violence, and only after many missed opportunities did she probably work up the courage to act, Perry said.
“It’s pretty remarkable that she’d do that,” he said. “The power that must have been exerted to keep an entire family like that for so long must have been pretty sophisticated.”