Horrors inside Perris prison home detailed by DA
NEWS CONFERENCE 11 A.M.:
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced the Perris couple, David Allen Turpin and his wife Louise Ann Turpin face 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, 7 counts of abuse of a dependent adult, 6 counts of child abuse.
David Allen Turpin faces a single count of lewd act on a child by force or fear.
Bail has been set at $13 million per defendant. If found guilty on all charges, the couple faces 94-years-to-life in prison.
Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Hestrin also detailed the horrific treatment the 13 children faced inside the Perris home.
According to Hestrin the children were chained as punishment and the 17-year-old who escaped and alerted authorities planned the escape for 2 years.
All victims were found malnourished, with David buying food but not letting the children eat it. The children were not allowed to shower more than once a year. The victims faced frequent beatings and strangulation.
None of the victims saw a doctor in more than four years and they never been to a dentist.
Despite the children being home schooled, they did not have basic knowledge.
A fund has been set up by the Riverside University Health System Foundation for the 13 siblings.
Donations can be made online, or by mail to RUHS Foundation at PO Box 9850, Moreno Valley, CA 92552.
Corporations, foundations and individuals who need additional details for plans to support the Turpin siblings, can contact RUHS Foundation at marketing@ruhealth.org.
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Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is slated Thursday to announce charges against a Perris couple accused of holding their 13 children, half of them adults, captive in inhumane conditions.
Watch livestream of news conference
A news conference is scheduled for 11 a.m at the agency’s Orange Street headquarters in downtown Riverside.
The county’s top prosecutor is expected to be joined by other public safety officials in offering his take on the case and the contents of the criminal complaint. No details have been provided in advance of what will be disclosed.
On Wednesday, sheriff’s detectives were taking stock of evidence, going over every inch of the Perris house where a couple allegedly held their 13 home-schooled children, half of them adults, in inhumane conditions.
“Our investigators are combing the scene, making sure they cover all the angles,” Riverside County sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Mike Vasquez told City News Service. “They’re putting it all together to submit the case to the District Attorney’s Office, which will probably happen by tonight or first
thing tomorrow morning.”
The single-story home belonging to 56-year-old David Allen Turpin and his wife, 49-year-old Louise Ann Turpin, remains a hive of activity following Tuesday’s revelations about what deputies found when they went into the residence, culminating in the arrest of the couple on suspicion of committing multiple acts of torture and child abuse.
Each is being held in lieu of $9 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside. They’re tentatively due in court Thursday afternoon.
“Our deputies described a foul smell in the home. It was extremely dirty, and many of the children were malnourished,” sheriff’s Capt. Greg Fellows told reporters Tuesday. “If you can imagine a 17-year-old appearing to be 10 because of being malnourished, chained to a bed and with injuries
associated with that — I would call that torture.”
The Turpins’ 17-year-old daughter escaped the home by jumping through a window shortly before 6 a.m. Sunday, carrying a deactivated mobile phone with which she was still able to dial 911, according to Fellows.
The undersized teen, who authorities initially thought was much younger, told dispatchers her 12 siblings were in need of help, and when deputies arrived, she presented them with photographs documenting conditions inside the residence, the captain said.
“The photos she provided turned out to be accurate,” Fellows said. “They were in conditions that were horrific.”
He said three children were found chained to furniture inside the residence, evidently to immobilize them. Six of the victims are under 18, while the others are adults. Their ages range from 2 to 29.
“The mother was perplexed why were at the residence,” Fellows said in describing what investigators encountered on entering the home in the 100 block of Muir Woods Road. “We have had no prior contacts there regarding allegations of child abuse and neglect. We have no call history to that residence.”
Read: Perris couple arrest highlights lack of private school oversight
The captain was at a loss to explain why the older children had failed to report alleged abuse in the home earlier. State records showed the home was designated Sandcastle Day School, with David Turpin listed as the principal.
He’s a former aerospace engineer with Northrop Grumman, and his wife a homemaker. They have resided in Perris since 2014 and previously lived in Murrieta, as well as Texas.
Read: Inside the Turpin’s former Texas home
“I’ve never felt such a mixture of emotions. I’m seriously so heartbroken for my nieces and nephews,” Louise Turpin’s sister, Teresa Robinette of Knoxville, Tennessee, told NBC News.
According to Robinette, she and her younger brother have been largely estranged from their sister for years, speaking with her via phone but never seeing the family. Robinette said she was speechless on learning of the couple’s arrest and the alleged circumstances.
“I can’t even say the words to you that I’d like to say to her,” Robinette said. “I’m hurt. Our life wasn’t perfect growing up, but we didn’t live like that. And David was raised in a very wealthy home, church. My dad was a preacher when Louise and I were little. I don’t know where any of this came
from. It’s like a bad dream.”
Questions were raised during Tuesday’s media briefing regarding religious zealotry, or even cult-like behavior by the parents, but Fellows said the investigation was still in the early stages.
County Department of Public Social Services Director Von Zabern told reporters the agency is working to obtain court orders that will give Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services custody of the younger children and conservatorship over the adults until they’re capable of making their own decisions. She and Fellows both praised the “bravery” of the girl who escaped the residence to seek help for her siblings.
A spokeswoman for the Riverside University Health System said the children are stable and being restored to health gradually. According to Corona Regional Medical Center CEO Mark Uffer, the adults are also receiving expert care.
“They’re comfortable and in a very secure environment,” Uffer said. “They’ve been through a very traumatic ordeal, but they’re very friendly, very cooperative and hopeful life will get better for them after this event.”
More: I-Team and Stands for You investigations
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