Foster care parents with suspected links to Turpin children arraigned on abuse charges
A Perris foster care couple and their adult daughter with suspected links to some of the Turpin children pleaded not guilty to multiple abuse charges.
Marcelino Camacho Olguin, 63, Rosa Armida Olguin, 58, and Lennys Giovanna Olguin, 37, were arrested and charged in November with nearly a dozen offenses, including child cruelty, false imprisonment and witness intimidation.
Marcelino Olguin was additionally charged with multiple counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old.
The trio was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Sean Crandell, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for June 6 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Marcelino Olguin is free on a $200,000 bond, while Rosa and Lennys Olguin are each free on $50,000 bail.
None of the Turpin children are specifically identified in court papers, but the initial J.T. are listed for one of the victims. The case also dates back to April 2018,
Circumstantial evidence in courts papers links the Olguins as foster parents of the Turpin children, a short time after they were rescued from the Perris home they say their parents had turned into a prison for them and their siblings.
The alleged offenses occurred between April 2018 and March 2021. The Turpin children were rescued in January 2018.
It alleges that Marcelino Olguin fixed his attention on the sisters, while another girl, identified only by the initials "J.P." was physically abused by the defendants, but not sexually assaulted.
The defendants have no documented prior felony convictions.
It is unclear how long the Olguins have been designated foster parents in the county's dependent care system, which has been under intense scrutiny since the allegations surfaced, as well as other evidence of mismanagement by the county's Child Protective Services Department and Office of the Public Guardian.
The Board of Supervisors in October hired former U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson and staff attorneys from his Los Angeles-based law firm to conduct an investigation of the agencies, which is expected to conclude in May.
More: Turpin children care investigation delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles
An ABC documentary broadcast in November found that life had not improved much for most of the 13 Turpin siblings after they were removed from their parents' residence in January 2018. At the time, their ages ranged from 2 to 29.
The documentary featured District Attorney Mike Hestrin, whose staff have remained in contact with the Turpin children. Hestrin said multiple victims were "living in squalor."
"They're living in crime-ridden neighborhoods. There's money for their education. They can't access it," Hestrin said. "This is unimaginable to me, that we could have the very worst case of child abuse I've ever seen, and then we would then not be able to get it together to give them basic needs."
David Turpin, now 59, and Louise Turpin, now 52, were each sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison in 2019.
The defendants operated what prosecutors and investigators described as a "house of horrors," keeping some of the children caged or chained most times of the day, forcing them to subsist on peanut butter sandwiches and burritos, making them sleep up to 20 hours daily, and allowing them to shower only once a year.
The parents also engaged in repeated physical abuse, resulting in injuries. The conditions were uncovered in January 2018 when one of the Turpin girls, then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin, escaped through a window and called 911.
Check Out Some of Our Previous Coverage of the Turpin Family:
- Turpin sisters who escaped Perris ‘house of horrors’ speak out: ‘I thought I was going to die’
- RivCo launches probe into services & care of Turpin siblings; some still ‘living in squalor’
- Following questions of Turpin children care, Supervisors approve formation of committee to improve social services
- Trapped Turpin teen posted YouTube videos before escaping
- Adult Turpin siblings released from hospital
- Turpin parents planning Oklahoma move before arrest
- Horrors inside Perris prison home detailed by DA
- I-Team Exclusive: Interview with Perris prison home DA
- Turpins barred from contacting children in Perris prison home case
