Couple arrested after 13 children found ‘shackled’ to their beds
● Siblings kept in ‘filthy’ conditions and were severely malnourished
A couple in California have been arrested after police found their 13 children allegedly held captive at home in filthy conditions, with some “shackled” to their beds using chains and padlocks.
A 17-year-old girl called police after escaping from the house where she had been locked up alongside her siblings.
Some were so malnourished officers at first believed all were children, even though seven were adults.
The girl who raised the alarm – who was so small officers initially believed she was only ten – called 911 and was met by police.
She was interviewed by officers, who then went to the family home in Perris, about 70 miles south-east of Los Angeles. They found several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark, foul-smelling surroundings.
The children, who ranged in age from two to 29, “appeared to be malnourished and very dirty”. A police statement said: “The victims were provided with food and beverages after they claimed to be starving.”
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, have been held on bail of $9 million (£6.5m) and are expected to face charges that include torture and child endangerment.
California State Department of Education records showed the family home had the same address as Sandcastle Day School which opened in March 2011, where Mr Turpin is listed as principal.
In the 2016-17 school year, the facility had an enrolment of six with one student in each of the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth and 12th grades.
Teachers at private schools in California do not need to hold a valid state teaching qualification.
Neighbours said they were stunned by the arrests. Andrew Santillan, who lives around the corner, said he had heard about the case from a friend.
“I had no idea this was going on,” he told a local newspaper. “I didn’t know there were kids in the house.”
Other neighbours described the family as intensely private.
A few years ago, Robert Perkins said he and his mother saw a few family members constructing a nativity scene in the Turpins’s front garden. Mr Perkins said he complimented them on it. “They didn’t say a word,” he said.
The children’s grandparents are understood to have said they had not seen the family for four or five years.
Public records showed the couple lived in Texas for many years before moving to California in 2010.
The Turpins filed for bankruptcy in 2011, stating in court documents they owed up to $500,000 (£364,000).
At that time, Mr Turpin worked as an engineer at aerospace and defence technology company Northrop Grumman and earned $140,000 (£102,000) annually. His wife was a stay-at-home mother.
Ivan Trahan, the couple’s bankruptcy lawyer, said he had never met the children, but the couple “spoke about them highly”.
“We remember them as a very nice couple,” Mr Trahan said, adding that Louise Turpin told him the family loved Disneyland and visited often.
The family’s Facebook page shows numerous photos and videos of them all together, apparently happy and smiling. Comments from family members and friends are attached to many of the posts.
The couple appear to have renewed their wedding vows several times in recent years, often with their children present.
In one video series, the Turpins can be seen renewing their vows at the Elvis Chapel in Las Vegas.
The couple’s children are now being treated in local hospitals.
Mark Uffer, the head of one of the hospitals, said: “It’s actually heartbreaking for the staff; it’s unbelievable what you see.”