16 FTNeighboursofDavid and Louise
Turpin in the affluent southern
Californian town ofPerris,
Riverside County,expressed
shockand surprise when the
devoutlyChristiancouplewere
found guilty of the systematic
starvation and tortureofall but
one of their 13 home-schooled
children inApril 2019. Despite
theTurpin familyhaving livedin
Perris, 70 miles (113km)south-
east of Los Angeles,fornearly
adecade,little wasknown
about them untilJanuary2018,
whenone of theirdaughters
escaped from thefamily home
by climbing out ofawindow. The
17-year-old girl, who had been
plotting her escapefortwo years,
called911 to raise the alarm.
She told emergencyservicesthat
“twoofmysisters and one ofmy
brothers... they’rechained up to
their bed. SometimesIwakeup
and Ican’tbreathe because how
dirty the house is [sic]”.
Thegirldid not knowher
address, theyear or month,
nor the meaning of theword“medication”. Neithershe nor
anyofher siblings hadever
seenadentist,and none had
seenadoctor infour years.
Policelater discovere dher
emaciatedbrothersand sisters,
aged between twoand 29 at
the time of theraid, living in
filthyconditions amidst their
ownhumanwaste.At least
three, includinga22-year-old
man anda29-year-oldwoman,
were shac kled to their beds. It
waslater determined thatthe
parents, DavidTurpin, 57, an
engineer,earni ng $140,000 a
year forUSdefence contractors
Lockheed Martin and Northrop
Grumman, and his wife Louise,50, described asahomemaker,
had beenkeeping theirchildren
in squalor and administering
various “punishments”forat
least nineyears. Hundreds of
journalskept by the children
were disc overedand used as
evidence at the subsequent
trial.Thechildren, whose names
all begin with the letter ‘J’,
were kept indoorsexcept for
Hallowe’en andfamilytripsto
Disneyland or LasVegas.They
had no access toTV orradio.
In 2014, DavidTurpin had
registered himself as head of
the ‘Sandcastle DaySchool’,
based at his home address.
Threeyearsearli er,hehadfiledforbankruptcywith
debts of $500,000. Consultant
psychiatrist David Canter has
suggested that this mayhave
beenafactor:“Is itpossiblethat,
as theTurpins’ financescycled
ever moreout of control, they
becameincreasinglycoercive
in their attempts to handle the
situationtheyhad createdfor
themselves?”
Thecoupleweresentenc ed
to life imprisonment and are
expected to spend therest of
their livesbehind barsunless
granted parole in 25years’ time.
They wept as victim impact
statementsfromfouroftheir
childrenwere re ad to the court.
“I cannot describe inwordswhat
we went throughgrowing up”,
said onechild.“SometimesIstill
have nightmares of things that
happened suchasmysiblings
beingchaineduporgetting
beaten”, but he concludedby
saying“I love my parents and
have forgiv en themforalot of
things theydid to us”. Several
othe rs also forg avethe parents.
“I lo ve my parents somuch”,
said onegirl. “Although it may
not have been the bestwayof
raising us,Iamgladthat they
did because it made me the
personIamtoday”.Another,
aski ng forleniency, said her
parents had believedthat “God
had put in their hearts” to home-
school them.
Not all thechildrenwere so
forgiving.“My parents tookmy
wholelife from me”, said one
daughter,visibl yshaki ng,“but
nowI’m takingmy life back.
I’m afighter”. Her statement
also containedasuggestionthat
some of thechildren mayhave
been brainwashed.“Isawmy
dad changemy mom.Theyalso
changed me, butIrealised what
washappening”.
DavidTurpin’slawyerread
astatement on his client’s
behalf: “My home schoolingand
discipline had good intentions. I
neverintendedforany harm to
come tomy children.Ilove my
children andIbelieve theyloveThestrangeanddisturbing‘TWILIGHTCHILDREN’RESCUED caseoftheTurpinfamilyLO
UISE TURPIN
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ABOVE:The fam ilydressed in matchingoutfits forpicturesataLasVegas-style renewalofDavid andLouiseTurpin’s wedding
vows,complet ewith an Elvis impersonator.BELOW:The deceptively normal lookingTurpin family homein Perris ,Californ ia,FR
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