Parents in Calif. shackling case plead guilty to abuse

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A California couple pleaded guilty Friday to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children to beds and starving them to the point it stunted their growth.

David and Louise Turpin will spend at least 25 years in prison after entering the pleas in Riverside County Superior Court to 14 counts that included cruelty toward all but their toddler daughter and imprisoning them in a house that appeared neatly kept outside but festered with filth and reeked of human waste.

The couple was arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter called 911 after escaping from the family’s home in the city of Perris, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and hadn’t bathed for months. They described being beaten, starved and put in cages.

David Turpin appeared stoic as he pleaded guilty, but Louise Turpin’s face turned red and she began crying and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

The two face prison terms of 25 years to life when they are sentenced April 19, Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin said.

“The defendants ruined lives, so I think it’s just and fair that the sentence be equivalent to first-degree murder,” Hestrin said.

The couple would have faced dozens of additional counts if the case had gone to trial.

Jack Osborn, an attorney who represents the seven adult children in probate court, said they were happy the guilty plea spared them from testifying.

“They are relieved they can now move forward with their lives and not have the specter of a trial hanging over their heads and all the stress that would have caused,” Osborn said.