Parents Arrested After Their 12 Children — Ages 2 to 29 — Allegedly Found 'Shackled' and Malnourished
Two Southern California parents have been arrested after their 12 children – ages 2 to 29 – were found shackled and malnourished in their Perris home, PEOPLE confirms.
David Allen Turpin, 56, and his 49-year-old wife Louise Anna Turpin were booked Monday on suspicion of nine counts of torture and 10 counts of child endangerment after their 17-year-old daughter “escaped” from their home and called 911 on Jan. 14 to report that her 12 brothers and sisters were being held captive by their parents and that some of her siblings were bound with chains and padlocks, according to a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department press release obtained by PEOPLE.
Officers who interviewed the teen believed the “slightly emaciated” girl was only 10 years old until she told them how old she was.
Deputies interviewed the parents at their Muir Woods Road home and found “several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings,” the release states.
The parents were “unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner,” according to the release.
Deputies discovered 12 children inside the home and were “shocked to discover that 7 of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29.”
The victims appeared to be malnourished and dirty, the release states.
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The siblings, who ranged in age from two to 29, were taken to the Perris Station and interviewed and also provided with food and drink after they told investigators they were “starving,” according to the release.
The six juveniles were later taken to the Riverside University Hospital System. The seven adult children were transported to Corona Regional Medical Center and admitted for medical treatment. Their conditions aren’t immediately known.
Both parents are being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center on $9 million bail. A hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 18.
