A California district attorney gave gruesome details Thursday regarding the type of abuse the 13 Turpin children regularly faced from their parents, who have been charged with torture.
Authorities discovered Sunday that David, 57, and Louise Turpin, 49, enslaved their children, aged two to 29 years old, inside a Perris, Calif., home. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin provided disturbing details and accounts from the children, during a press briefing Thursday.
The malnourished children are currently being treated in a hospital. The children allege they were tortured through regular beatings and strangulation from their parents, reported CBS.
Here are 10 things to know about this case:
- The children planned an escape for more than two years.
- The children were allegedly only allowed to shower once a year.
- The parents lived separately from the children when the family previously lived in Texas. The parents would occasionally stop by to feed them.
- The parents had toys wrapped that were never opened or given to the kids.
- The children allege they would get chained to furniture if they washed their hands above the wrists.
- The children faced severe malnourishment. The parents would buy food for themselves and allow the children to see the food, without letting the children eat. The oldest Turpin child is a 29-year-old woman and weighs only 82 pounds.
- Many of the children did not understand the term medication or know what a police officers was.
- The parents forced the children to stay up all night, going to sleep around 5 a.m. and sleeping during the day.
- They were not allowed to leave their chains if they had to go to the restroom.
- The children were allowed to keep journals and law enforcement is currently using them as a main force of evidence.
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