Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
Some Of The Kids That David And Louise Turpin Abused And Shackled Offer Their Parents Forgiveness At Sentencing
"I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt my children. I love my children so much. ... I only want the best for them," a tearful Louise Turpin said as she and her husband David learned their fate.
A California couple who pleaded guilty torturing and abusing 12 of their 13 children for years have been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
David and Louise Turpin were sentenced Friday during an emotional hearing that saw some of the children speak publicly about the abuse for the first time.
Louise Turpin wept as she apologized for hurting her children, while her husband David Turpin struggled to give a short statement.
David Turpin's lawyer read part of a statement because he was too upset. "My homeschooling and discipline had good intentions," he said. "I'm sorry if I've done anything to cause them harm."
Louise Turpin spoke for herself, saying, "I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt my children. I love my children so much. ... I only want the best for them."
The sentencing came a little more than a year after the Turpins' 17-year-old daughter jumped out of a window of the family's squalid home and called 911. She reported that some of her siblings were chained to their beds and that she hadn't bathed in months.
Some of the children of a California couple convicted of torturing them for years spoke at their parents' sentencing, marking the first time they've been heard from publicly since being freed from their filthy home.
One of the Turpins' adult children walked into court already in tears just after the hearing began, holding hands with a prosecutor.
A daughter said, "Life may have been bad but it made me strong. I fought to become the person that I am. I saw my dad change my mom. They almost changed me, but I realized what was happening. ... I'm a fighter, I'm strong and I'm shooting through life like a rocket."
Some of the other children said they still love their parents. One asked for a lighter sentence because "they believed everything they did was to protect us."
Judge Bernard Schwartz said the children were not allowed to be filmed or photographed by assembled members of the media in the court.
Authorities say the abuse and neglect was so severe it stunted the children's growth, led to muscle wasting and left two girls unable to bear children.
Most of the 13 children — who ranged in age from 2 to 29 — were severely underweight and hadn't bathed for months.
The desperate cry for help from the 17-year-old came after a lifetime of living in such isolation: the girl didn't know her address, the month of the year or what the word "medication" meant.
But she knew enough to punch the digits 9-1-1 into a barely workable cellphone and then began describing years of horrific abuse to a police dispatcher.
Before the 17-year-old escaped from the home in a middle-class section of the city of Perris, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles, the Turpins had lived largely out of view.
David Turpin, 57, had been an engineer for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin, 50, was listed as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing.
Their home was neatly kept and neighbors rarely saw the kids outside the home.
When deputies arrived, they were shocked by what they discovered. A 22-year-old son was chained to a bed and two girls had just been set free from their shackles. The house was covered in filth and the stench of human waste was overwhelming.
Deputies testified that the children said they were only allowed to shower once a year. They were mainly kept in their rooms except for meals, which had been reduced from three to one per day, a combination of lunch and dinner. The 17-year-old complained that she could no longer stomach peanut butter sandwiches — they made her gag.
The Turpin offspring weren't allowed to play like normal children. Other than an occasional family trip to Las Vegas or Disneyland, they rarely left the home. They slept during the day and were active a few hours at night.
Although the couple filed paperwork with the state to homeschool their children, learning was limited. The oldest daughter only completed third grade.
"We don't really do school. I haven't finished first grade," the 17-year-old said, according to Deputy Manuel Campos.
The children said they were beaten, caged and shackled to beds if they didn't obey their parents.
Investigators found that the toddler had not been abused, but all of the children were hospitalized after they were discovered.
The seven adult children were living together and attending school in February when their parents pleaded guilty.
