House of Horrors
TWO MONTHS AFTER ESCAPING THE NIGHTMARE OF THEIR CALIFORNIA HOME, 13 SIBLINGS ARE HEALING— AND EMBRACING THEIR NEWFOUND FREEDOM
The call came from a 17-year-old girl who said that she and her siblings were being held captive by their parents in their Perris, California, home. But police officers responding to the scene in the early hours of Jan. 14 were unprepared for what they found: 13 children born to David and Louise Turpin were living inside a foul, rubbishstrewn suburban house. Three had been shackled to beds and furniture, and all but one were severely malnourished. The shocking abuse made headlines as neighbours anguished over the plight of the kids found inside what became known as “the house of horrors.”
“What they went through,” said Mark Uffer, CEO of the Corona Regional Medical Center, where the adult children were later treated, “is not normal.”
Now they finally have a chance at normality. In an exclusive interview with lawyer Jack Osborn, US ABC News reported the adult Turpin kids—ages 18 to 29—were quietly released from the medical facility on March 15 and are now living together in a home in an undisclosed location in rural California. They’ve begun experiencing the simple freedoms—like making ice-cream sundaes and watching Star Wars movies— denied to them for decades. In addition to Skyping with their younger siblings—reportedly split up between two foster homes—they are caring for the family dogs and enjoying Mexican food and the opportunity to go outdoors.
While their parents await trial on multiple counts of abuse, torture and false imprisonment, charges that could carry life sentences if they’re convicted, the Turpin kids have chosen new bedding for their rooms and have wardrobes full of clothes, said Osborn.
It’s a joyful new chapter after years of pain that is giving hope to their extended family. “This is a new building block for them, a new step,” their uncle Billy Lambert tells WHO. “It’s a positive thing, and it will be good for the healing process.” •