Police found some of the thirteen children of David Allen Turpin, 57 year old and Louise Anna Turpin, 49 year old, handcuffed to their beds with chains and locks in dark and smelly backdrops.
The Turpin couple have been detained and charged with nine counts of torture and ten counts of child endangerment.
Elizabeth Jane Flores, 41, the sister of Louise Turpin, spoke about how her sister had prohibited family from visiting the children. Elizabeth revealed that her sister never let her talk to her kids and neither even accepts her Facebook request. She further said that her parents booked several flights to go see them but when they got there they wouldn’t tell them where to go and her parents left crying every time. Her parents died before they got to see them again.
Elizabeth said that there were real concerns about the children. She said it is just heart-breaking and she is so embarrassed about all of this. She further said that something didn’t seem right about her sister’s parenting but she would never have expected it to be like this. She has been so worried about them because it’s been so strange but there was nothing she could do.
The 13 children chained to beds and tortured by their parents in California were called “vampires” by neighbors, as they were so skinny and only came out at night. They were barely seen in their neighborhood and many locals had no idea they even existed.
Authorities learned about the children’s horrific ordeal after one of the siblings escaped the house and called police.
One of the neighbours, Ms. Milligan, who lives opposite the family, said that she wished she and other neighbours had noticed red flags that would have allowed them to help the children sooner. She said two years ago, while walking around the neighbourhood admiring Christmas lights and decorations, she encountered three of the Turpin children and complimented them on their Christmas manger. She said the children froze if by doing so they could become invisible as they didn’t want to have a social conversation.
Another neighbour, Nicole Gooding, 35, who has lived in the neighbourhood for three years, said that the first time she saw the family was two months ago when the mother and children were cleaning up a yard that was full of weeds and overflowing trash cans. She had never seen them at all until that day.
According to the California police, Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house but were surprised to learn that seven of them were actually grown-ups. Further inquiry discovered that several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings but the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner. The Police said that that the victims looked to be undernourished and very dirty.
Local police have revealed that all of the malnourished children have been hospitalized and have been freed from the house. Mr and Mrs Turpin are due in court and bail for the pair has been set at $9million.
