Turpin siblings speak out in 1st interview about 'house of horrors'

Table Of Content

• Secret YouTube Video Shows Life Inside Turpin Family "House Of Horrors"
• Ivy Ridge victims protest at disgraced academy after 'predator' named
• Turpin sisters describe life in house of horrors: ‘There was a lot of starving’
• After Rescue From Perris ‘House of Horrors,' Riverside County Asks ‘Where are the Siblings Now?'
• Years After Jordan Turpin Rescued Siblings from House of Horrors, a Look Back at Her PEOPLE Interview

Jordan Turpin, then 17, escaped from her parents' abusive home and called 911. In April 2019 a judge sentenced the pair to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 22 years. The guilty pleas were important to spare the children from testifying, though they were allowed to speak at the sentencing if they choose, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin. They admitted to 14 counts that included cruelty toward all but their toddler daughter, and imprisoning the children in a house festering with filth and reeking of human waste.

Secret YouTube Video Shows Life Inside Turpin Family "House Of Horrors"

House of Horrors survivor Jordan Turpin, 23, goes public with her new BOYFRIEND - six years after being rescue - Daily Mail

House of Horrors survivor Jordan Turpin, 23, goes public with her new BOYFRIEND - six years after being rescue.

Posted: Fri, 19 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In February 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts, including torture, false imprisonment and child cruelty. A Perris foster care couple and their adult daughter accused of abusing two girls rescued from a home they say their parents had turned into a prison for them and their siblings pleaded not guilty Friday to felony charges. The following year, her parents pled guilty to 14 counts each of torture, dependent adult abuse, child endangerment and false imprisonment—and were sentenced to life in prison in April 2019, according to NBC News. David and Louise Turpin were sentenced to life in prison in 2019, after pleading guilty to 14 counts of torture, dependent adult abuse, child endangerment and false imprisonment. Disturbing details about the case came to light in January 2018, after one of the daughters escaped their home in Perris, California, and called 911 using a cellphone she had taken with her. The girl, who was 17 at the time, told police that her brothers and sisters were being held by their parents, David and Louise Turpin, and some were chained, investigators said.

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A lawyer for one of those family members said, "The family are devastated by these charges. At this point, we do not know the basis for these charges, and my client is denying these charges are true." A major challenge for the Turpins has been accessing the state and county social service programs they were entitled to, as well as the donations that came in following their parents' arrest. Most of the funds have gone into a trust that is controlled by a court-appointed public guardian, but details about the guardian -- and the money -- are hard to come by. Much of the $600,000 in private donations has been kept from the siblings. For Hestrin and advocates for the children, their treatment has been unacceptable -- a tragedy that both shocks and compounds the horrors of their prior life.

Turpin sisters describe life in house of horrors: ‘There was a lot of starving’

Some are even asking why some requests — like when 29-year-old Joshua Turpin asked for a bicycle so he’d have some transportation — were denied. The Turpin family moved into the home in 2014 at a purchase price of $351,000. In another bedroom, a boy is seen shackled to a bed where he’d been restrained for weeks. Officers scrambled to free him as they arrested the parents and asked them where to find the key to the chains, the footage showed.

All 13 children were transported to local hospitals — the seven adults to one facility and the six minors to another. It's not clear if any children will attend Friday's sentencing, but they will be offered a chance to speak or can offer written statements to be read in court. Although the couple filed paperwork with the state to homeschool their children, learning was limited.

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The Turpins filed documents saying they were homeschooling their children but Jennifer and Jordan Turpin said that wasn’t the case. Instead, they said their mother would coach each of the children to remember what grade they were supposed to be in, based on their ages, and they secretly tried to teach each other what they could. Jennifer said they would stop by once a week to drop off groceries, but it was never enough food to feed everyone, and sometimes they would skip a week. Her father, she said, used belts and sticks to whip the children until they bled.

Sisters Rescued From California ‘House of Horrors' Speak of Survival in New Interview

The Turpin case involved the abuse of children and dependent adults by their parents, David and Louise Turpin of Perris, California, U.S. The ages of the 13 victims ranged from 2 to 29 years-old. On January 14, 2018, one of the daughters, then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin, escaped and called local police, who then raided the residence and discovered disturbing evidence. Given the number of dependents involved, the degree of abuse, and the protracted nature occurring over decades, the story garnered significant national and international news. Experts in family abuse considered the case to be extraordinary for many reasons.

Years After Jordan Turpin Rescued Siblings from House of Horrors, a Look Back at Her PEOPLE Interview

Authorities subsequently discovered that their parents had subjected them to brutal violence and deprived them of food, sleep, hygiene, education, and health care. When the county and ChildNet were made aware that the Turpin siblings were suffering additional abuse at the hands of the foster family, according to the complaint, it was not reported to law enforcement or child protective services. Instead, ChildNet and the county "actively withheld this information from the authorities," the complaint alleges.

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"The night I left was not expected. I was pushed to that point. I literally thought we were gonna die," Jordan recalled to PEOPLE. Jordan's plan to contact authorities was more than two years in the making and culminated as the family was planning a move from California to Oklahoma. “My plan was, okay, while we're on the trip and in a crowd, I’m going to sneak out and call 911," Jordan told PEOPLE. In the interview with Sawyer, Jordan revealed how they have been failed by the system after their parents were locked away for life, having to couch surf since they couldn’t find stable homes. And all the stuff,” Jordan told Sawyer about the 911 call she made on Jan. 14, 2018.

"Really what we've seen in the cases that we've looked at is, unless you have a child who dies or a child who ends up pregnant as a result of sexual abuse, then nothing happens," Booth said. A lawyer for the children's trust did not respond to several inquiries from ABC News. "Within our representation, we continuously advocated for services on behalf of our clients," Osborn said. "It appears that, once … there ceased national attention, the urgency in providing these essentials to our clients by certain county agencies significantly declined." One of the siblings, 29-year-old Joshua Turpin, said he struggled to access funds for needs as simple as day-to-day transportation. "Well, where I live is not the best area," her sister Jennifer, 33, said.

Jennifer Turpin said their parents left the older siblings with a flip phone so they could receive their “instructions.” One of which, according to Jennifer, was to put any rebellious children into cages, some of which were dog kennels with locks. According to the sisters, their parents would abuse them for even the most minor things. If a child colored outside of the lines, Jennifer Turpin said their mother might pull their hair or throw them across the room. One time, Jennifer said one of her siblings was caught in their mother’s bedroom, and their mother threw her and then pushed the child down the stairs. The frail and malnourished Turpin children were now in a hospital, where they received food, clean clothes, medical treatment, kindness from strangers -- things the siblings rarely, or in some cases never, had before. David and Louise found other ways to use food and gifts to torture their children.