Evil Next Door: Siblings Allegedly Suffered Heinous Abuse — Until Teen’s Escape Put Parents in Jail

Early morning darkness still blanketed the streets of suburban Perris, Calif. on Sunday, Jan. 14, as a window began to creep open at the brown stucco and stone house. A 17-year-old girl slipped out into the yard, and then, at 5:53 a.m, using a deactivated cell phone, she dialed 911.

The call was the culmination of a desperate escape plan the teen had devised with her siblings for more than two years, and when she spoke to the dispatcher, she revealed a shocking truth: She and her 12 siblings were being held against their will by their parents, and some of them were chained.

Responding officers were shocked at the teen’s frail appearance, and at the unspeakable abuse they encountered inside the house: Three children were shackled to beds and furniture, while 10 other victims — ages 2 to 29 — were in cramped, foul-smelling rooms.

• For more on the backgrounds of David and Louise Turpin and what’s next for their children, subscribe now to PEOPLE or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.

“It was very dirty and the conditions were horrific,” Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Captain Greg Fellows said at a press conference. “If you can imagine being 17 years old and appearing to be a 10-year-old, being chained to a bed, being malnourished …. I would call that torture.”

Authorities arrested the siblings’ parents, David Turpin, 56, and his wife, Louise Turpin, 49, and charged them with 12 counts of torture, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, six counts of child abuse and 12 counts of false imprisonment. (Authorities say that the 2-year-old appears to have escaped abuse.) David was also charged with one count of a lewd act against a child.

Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges and are being held on $12 million bond each — $1 million for every victim.

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

Authorities have released details of the alleged abuse, which included being deprived of food, left to lay in their own waste while shackled, and being strangled and beaten for concocted “infractions” like washing their hands above the wrists.

More details might be revealed in the hundreds of journals the children kept, and according to Riverside County District Attorney Mark Hestrin, additional charges against the Turpins could be forthcoming.

“The victimization of these children seemed to intensify over time,” Hestrin says.

Anyone with information about the Turpin family is urged to call the official tipline set up by the D.A. in Riverside, California: (888) 934-KIDS

Share and Enjoy