US Couple Charged With Torture After 13 Starved Children Found In Captivity

A married Californian couple has been charged with torture and child endangerment after 12 of their children were discovered allegedly held captive and malnourished inside a family home.

Law enforcement authorities claim some of them had been shackled to their beds, inside a darkened room with minimal access to food and water.

The New York Times reports a 17-year-old girl, who claimed to have escaped confinement at the home southeast of Los Angeles, found a mobile phone within the house. She then called 911, alerting authorities to the extreme conditions.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said officers attended the Perris property and found the siblings, ranging in age from 2 to 29, in “foul-smelling surroundings.”

The sheriff’s office said first responders initially believed everyone in the room to be a minor due to their malnourishment, and that the 17-year-old only appeared to be around ten. She is believed to be the 13th victim.

Each of the siblings were admitted to hospitals for treatment. Their conditions have not been publicly released.

After interviewing one of the siblings, authorities spoke with their parents David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49. The sheriff’s department said the parents were “unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner.”

Public records show David Allen Turpin was registered to run the Sandcastle Day School at the premises.

Neighbour Wendy Martinez told NBC Los Angeles that while she was aware many children lived at the home, they rarely came outside.

“They looked very unnutrioned [sic], very white, like they never got sun at all,” Martinez said, adding “they would never come out and when they did, the lady would stand there watching them.”

Both parents face nine charges each of torture and child endangerment. They were each held in lieu of bail totalling over $11 million each.

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