David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin, a California engineer and his homemaker wife,
are accused of shackling some of their 13 starving children to beds with chains and padlocks in “dark and foul-smelling surroundings,” an alleged house of horrors that was discovered when one of the teenagers escaped.
Authorities allege that the Perris, California couple, who ran a day school out of their home and were beset with financial problems in recent years, abused and tortured their children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29,
according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The bizarre and troubling allegations were detailed in the release on January 15, 2018 after the 17-year-old escaped and led authorities to the other children. The escaping teenager was so emaciated that authorities thought the teen was only 10-years-old at first, the press release says, describing a real-life tale almost reminiscent of
Flowers in the Attic, in which children were kept from the outside world.
David and Louise Turpin are considered a good Christian family in their community,” David Turpins’ parents, who live in West Virginia,
told ABC News. The network added that the grandparents can’t understand “any of this” and said the Turpin children were home-schooled.
David Turpin is 57, and his wife Louise Turpin is 49.
Records show they run a school at their home, according to The Press-Enterprise. They were confronted by authorities at the home and taken into custody, according to the news release. In 2011, when the couple declared bankruptcy, David Turpin listed his occupation as an engineer for a global security company/defense contractor, and Louise Turpin was listed as a homemaker.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Authorities Were ‘Shocked’ to Learn That Some of the Children Were Adults & Photos Show The Turpins on Disneyland Trips & With an Elvis Impersonator
The people inside the home were so emaciated that deputies assumed they were all children at first, even though it later turned out one was 29-years-old and others were also adults, the release says. Neighbors expressed shock, with one telling the Press-Enterprise newspaper that he didn’t even realize there were children inside the home.
“Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that 7 of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29,” according to the release. The 13th child is the one who alerted authorities.
The couple shared a joint Facebook page. Most photos showed them with an infant or together, including renewing their vows with an Elvis impersonator. Several photos showed all of the children, sometimes wearing matching clothing. The children do not look emaciated in the pictures, although all of the photos are at least more than a year old. “Beautiful picture. 12 and one more. I think it is called, ‘The Dirty Dozen,'” a friend wrote under a family picture.
Friends made typical comments on photos as if the family was a loving one. “is okay you guys look like your having just as much fun as the kids,” wrote one friend on a photo of the couple at Disneyland. Another wrote, “I watched your wedding video. It was great. Your children are so well behaved. I am so proud of you Louise and David. You have a great family.”
The Turpins’ cover photo showed the children in matching purple dresses with the smallest child in front. It was posted in July 2016, and the children appear normal in it. There are no new public photos of the family since July 2016. The photos show that nine of the older children are girls.