A couple in Perris beat, strangled and shackled their children for years, the abuse escalating from neglect to torture over time, prosecutors said Thursday.
Formal charges were announced Thursday against the parents accused of abusing their 13 children inside their Perris home.
David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, were each charged with multiple felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment, Riverside County Dist. Atty. Michael Hestrin announced. David Turpin also was charged with one count of a lewd act on a child by force. If convicted, they face up to 94 years to life in prison. They were arrested this week on suspicion of torture and child endangerment.
"As a prosecutor, there are some cases that haunt you," Hestrin told reporters Thursday. "Some deal with human depravity, and that's what we're dealing with here."
The Turpins' 13 children, ranging in age from 2 to 29, were captives in the couple's tract house on Muir Woods Road and appeared to have undergone years of abuse and starvation, authorities said. Some were shackled to their beds.
Hestrin said the children were forced to sleep during the day and were awake only at night. He said that the teenage girl who escaped from the home and alerted police about conditions inside had been "working on a plan to escape this abuse for more than two years."
The parents would buy food for themselves, but not allow the children to eat it, Hestrin said. The couple would buy apple pies that only he and his wife ate and toys that sat unopened, he said.
Read the whole thing here - Horrific details emerge as Perris parents accused of holding 13 kids captive are charged with torture
Just awful.
Formal charges were announced Thursday against the parents accused of abusing their 13 children inside their Perris home.
David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, were each charged with multiple felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment, Riverside County Dist. Atty. Michael Hestrin announced. David Turpin also was charged with one count of a lewd act on a child by force. If convicted, they face up to 94 years to life in prison. They were arrested this week on suspicion of torture and child endangerment.
"As a prosecutor, there are some cases that haunt you," Hestrin told reporters Thursday. "Some deal with human depravity, and that's what we're dealing with here."
The Turpins' 13 children, ranging in age from 2 to 29, were captives in the couple's tract house on Muir Woods Road and appeared to have undergone years of abuse and starvation, authorities said. Some were shackled to their beds.
Hestrin said the children were forced to sleep during the day and were awake only at night. He said that the teenage girl who escaped from the home and alerted police about conditions inside had been "working on a plan to escape this abuse for more than two years."
The parents would buy food for themselves, but not allow the children to eat it, Hestrin said. The couple would buy apple pies that only he and his wife ate and toys that sat unopened, he said.
Read the whole thing here - Horrific details emerge as Perris parents accused of holding 13 kids captive are charged with torture
Just awful.
