Perris Parents of 13 Held on $9 Million Bail for Torture/Child Endangerment

David Turpin (L) and Louise Turpin(R) are both being held on $9,000,000. Images Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
David Turpin (L) and Louise Turpin(R) are both being held on $9,000,000. Images Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Two Perris, California individuals, 57-year-old David Allen Turpin, and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin have been arrested after one of their children, a 17-year-old juvenile, managed to escape from their home 59 miles southeast of Los Angeles to report to police that she and her siblings were being held captive.

The teen escaped the house, taking with her a cell phone found on the premises on the 100-block of Muir Woods Road. She used the phone to call 911 to report that her 12 siblings were being held, some in chains and padlocks, at that residence. The call prompted an immediate response by  Perris Police Department and Deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities arrived at the juvenile’s location, and initially assumed the age of the juvenile at approximately 10 years of age, but would find that she was 17. Her actual age was masked by her state of malnutrition. After a brief interview, officers proceeded to the residence and spoke with the Turpin couple. Shortly after, deputies would locate 12 victims, many shackled to their beds with chains. Like their escaped sibling were all emaciated and filthy.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]Initially, officers, after seeing the victims, believed all to be juveniles, but, would soon find that seven of them were adults between the ages of 18 to 29.

The Turpin couple was not able to “immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner,” authorities said in a statement.

All 13 victims as well as the Turpin couple were taken to the Perris Station and further interviewed. All the victims were provided food after complaining that they were starving.

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Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) arrived to assist in the investigation, then the six juveniles, the youngest being just two, were transported to the Riverside University Hospital System (RUHS) for medical examinations and admitted for treatment. The seven adult children were transported to Corona Regional Medical Center for an examination and admitted for medical treatment. 

Following their interview, the Turpin couple was subsequently transported to the Robert Presley Detention Center on charges of Torture and Child Endangerment. They are each being held on $9,000,000.