US Parents Who Tortured & Starved 13 Children Sentenced To Life In Prison

turpin family sentenced to life in prison

David and Louise Turpin, the American parents who allegedly tortured and held captive their 13 children, have been sentenced to 25 years to life in jail.

The shocking case made news early last year, when one of the Turpin children escaped and made a 911 call that would lead to the rescue of her siblings.

The Turpins abused 12 out of their 13 children, beating, strangling and starving them as well as regularly chaining them up for weeks or months. Authorities found that all of the children were significantly underweight and small for their age, saying that the 17-year-old who escaped to alert the police looked no more than ten years old.

The children were reportedly not allowed to shower more than once a year, and if they washed above their wrists when washing their hands would be punished for “playing in water“.

Heartbreaking testimony from some of the children has emerged after the sentencing. One of the boys said:

I cannot describe in words what we went through growing up. Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that had happened, such as my siblings being chained up or getting beaten. But that is the past and this is now.

I love my parents and have forgiven them for a lot of the things that they did to us. I have learned so much and become very independent.

At least one of the children has asked that the judge lift the restraining order in place so that she could visit her parents, saying via a statement read by a lawyer:

I want the court to know our parents loved each other and loved each of their children. I remember our mother sitting in her recliner saying she ‘don’t know what to do.’ She didn’t want to use rope or chain, but was afraid her children were taking in too much sugar and caffeine.

The Turpins will be up for a parole hearing in about 23 years. If they receive parole it will be for life, and if violated they will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

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