California parents accused of torturing children to face trial
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A judge on Thursday ordered a California couple to face trial on torture and child abuse charges after prosecutors presented evidence their children were subjected to years of filth, starvation and cruelty that included beatings with a wooden paddle and caging them as punishment.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz found probable cause that David and Louise Turpin abused 12 of their 13 children for years.
Investigators testified that the couple chained their children to beds and deprived them of food. The judge threw out a child endangerment charge involving the youngest daughter.
Doctors who examined the children ranging from 2 to 29 found signs of severe malnutrition and muscle wasting. Some struggled to speak and a girl, 12, didn’t know the full alphabet.
As the Turpin parents appeared for a second day at a preliminary hearing, their seven adult children were in an adjacent courthouse for a guardianship proceeding. Jack Osborn, a lawyer for the adult children, said no decision was reached on appointing Riverside County as their longterm guardian.
Testimony of starvation, squalor and brutality was presented Wednesday.
David and Louise Turpin have pleaded not guilty to torture, child abuse and other charges. Each is being held on $12 million bail and could face up to life in prison if convicted. They are scheduled to return to court Aug. 3.
The couple was arrested in January after their 17year-old daughter, who spent two years planning an escape, climbed out a window and called 911.