PERRIS: Parents arrested after officials discover 13 children, ages 2-29, chained and padlocked to beds

UPDATED: Monday, Jan. 15, 5 p.m. With additional details and interview

UPDATED: Monday, Jan. 15, 4 p.m. With booking and family photographs

 

PERRIS — Two parents have been arrested and are being held on $9 million bail each after officials made the “horrific” discovery of many of the couple’s thirteen juvenile and adult children “bound with chains and padlocks” to their beds in the couple’s Perris home.

During a subsequent investigation, authorities discovered what they believed were twelve  “malnourished and very dirty” children inside the house, but they were shocked to discover that seven of the couple’s children were actually adults.

The thirteen children’s ages ranged from 2 to 29, according to officials.

The four bedroom, three bath, 2400 square foot home where the children were rescued from is on the 100 block of Muir Woods Road and is located northwest of the intersection of Goetz and Ethanac Roads in Perris.

Officials made the discovery early Sunday morning, Jan. 14, after one of the couple’s children, described as a 17-year-old girl, “escaped” from the home and “managed to call 911 from a cellular device she found inside the house,” an official press release from the sheriff’s department explained.

Deputies who initially believed the teen to be a “slightly emaciated” 10-year-old, were shocked when they learned she was actually 17-years-old.

The teen told deputies her twelve brothers and sisters were being held captive by her parents inside the home and that many were bound to their beds by chains and padlocks.

After interviewing the girl, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and Sheriff’s Perris Station converged on the residence and discovered “several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks” amid “dark and foul-smelling surroundings,” the release explained.

Officials detained 57-year old, David Allen Turpin, 57, and 49-year-old, Louise Anna Turpin for further investigation and interviews.

According to the release, the parents were not able to provide a “logical reason” why their children had been found “restrained in that manner.”

Based on the circumstances, Perris Station investigators responded to the residence and assumed the investigation.

All thirteen victims were transported to the Sheriff’s Perris Station where they were provided food and beverages after they “claimed to be starving,” said the release.

Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services were notified and immediately sent teams of social workers to assist in the ongoing investigation.

The six minor children were eventually transported to Riverside University Hospital System in Moreno Valley for medical examinations. The seven adult children were all transported to Corona Regional Medical Center for examinations.

All thirteen children were found to be filthy, under weight and severely malnourished and all were eventually admitted to the hospitals for further evaluation and medical treatment.

After interviewing both parents, officials transported them to Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside where they were both booked on suspicion of nine counts of torture and ten counts of child endangerment.

An online jail records search revealed both parents remain in custody and are scheduled to be arraigned at Riverside’s Hall of Justice, Jan 18.

It was not immediately known if all thirteen children were biologically related to each other and the parents.

Photographs found online on the family’s Facebook page showed all thirteen children, who appeared clean, but were clearly undernourished.

Photos pulled from the family’s Facebook page showed all thirteen children, who could be seen smiling and apparently happy, but looking somewhat undernourished. David-Louise Turpin Facebook images.

By mid-afternoon, media from throughout Southern California had swarmed onto Muir Woods Road and by 4 p.m., more than one dozen news vans were parked either in front of the home or within the neighborhood where the family live.

Many neighbors who claimed to know the family said they never saw any signs of what was happening behind the family’s closed doors and were seen being interviewed by media throughout the afternoon. All said they were unaware of what the children now say was happening to them.

One of the family’s neighbors, Robert Perkins – who said he has lived down the street from where the alleged crimes were happening for about two and one half years – told Nathan Wilking of Rvcnews he was shocked when he saw the parents being led away in handcuffs and the 13 children being placed into a large, county van, Sunday evening.

The next day, Perkins said he came home from work to the sight of media personnel swarming the neighborhood and filming interviews and live broadcasts in front of the residence; where three newer cars and a newer, 15-passenger van were seen parked in the driveway of the home.

Calling reports of the ongoing abuse “just crazy,” Perkins said, “This is a nice neighborhood and I never thought something like this would have happened here.”

Perkins said he never saw more than four of the family’s older children outside the home and he described those he did see as appearing “all pale” and “looking really skinny.”

Perkins also said that he tried to talk to a few of the children two Christmas’ ago, when he saw they were helping to put up Christmas decorations. To Perkins, the children he saw seemed “scared and timid, but they just kept to themselves.”

“I just had no idea something like this could have been happening to them. I had no clue,” said Perkins. “I really feel bad for the kids and just wish them the best.”

Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact Master Investigator Tom Salisbury at the Perris Station at (951) 210-1000, or by email. Citizens may also submit a tip using the Sheriff’s CrimeTips online form.

This is a developing story that will be update as additional information becomes available.

 

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.