‘Begged to see the whole family’

Denied contact with captive kids, aunts say

•Thirteen malnourished siblings allegedly kept captive in filthy conditions by their parents in a Southern California home lived a strict existence with no social lives and no contact with extended family, two of their aunts said Wednesday.

“They weren’t allowed to watch TV. They weren’t allowed to have friends over — the normal things that kids do,” the children’s aunt, Teresa Robinette, told NBC’s Today show.

Robinette is the sister of Louise Turpin, 49, who along with her husband, 57-yearold David Allen Turpin, were jailed on $9 million bail each.

Charges may include torture and child endangerment, and a court appearance is scheduled for Thursday, authorities said.

Deputies said some siblings were shackled to furniture in the foul-smelling home in suburban Riverside County. They were so malnourished that the older ones still looked like children.

Robinette said she voiced concerns to her sister about the children’s health.

“I always made comments to Louise when I did talk to her, about, gosh, they are so skinny,” Robinette said. “She would laugh it off and say David’s so tall and lanky, they are going to be like him.”

The arrests Sunday came after a 17-year-old daughter who looked closer to 10 jumped out a window and called 911.

Her parents had made the home a private school, a prison, and a veritable torture chamber for the siblings aged two to 29, authorities said during a press conference Tuesday.

Until the girl fled with photographic evidence, it appears no one, neither neighbours nor public officials, knew anything about what was happening inside.

Another aunt, Elizabeth Jane Flores, told ABC News’ Good Morning America that she tried for years to get in touch with her sister, Louise Turpin, but Turpin shut her out.

“I want to reach out to the kids, I want them to know that for years we begged to Skype, we begged to see them, the whole family,” she said.

Flores tearfully said she and Turpin didn’t have a relationship for two decades beyond the odd phone call.

Few details have been released about how the parents kept them captive despite what appeared to be opportunities for them to leave.

Inside the home was a stinking mess, the conditions “horrific,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Capt. Greg Fellows said Tuesday.

He said there was no indication any of the children were sexually abused, although that was still being investigated.

THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED TO HAVE FRIENDS OVER — THE NORMAL THINGS THAT KIDS DO.