2/22/19
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Southern California couple accused of torturing and abusing their children for years in their home east of Los Angeles pleaded guilty to 14 counts, including torture, false imprisonment and child endangerment in court Friday, ensuring they will spend decades behind bars. The plea deal for David Turpin, 57, and Louise Turpin, 50, means they will not stand trial. After initially pleading not guilty to all charges last year, the couple will be sentenced April 19. "Those pleas will result in life sentences," said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin during a news conference. "They're going to serve an indeterminate sentence of 25 years to life. ... Unless the parole board, at some point, affirmatively decides they should be released, they will serve the rest of their lives in prison." The plea deal involved one count of torture, four counts of false imprisonment, six counts of cruelty to a dependent adult and three counts of willful child cruelty. The couple initially faced nearly 50 counts each related to the abuse of some of their 13 children. "I think it's just and fair that the sentence was equivalent to first-degree murder," Hestrin said.
The case came to light when the couple's 17-year-old daughter called police in January 2018 after escaping through the window of a tract home in Perris, a small community about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. On the 911 call, the girl said she and her siblings had been chained to their beds. She added that she never finished first grade and wasn't permitted to take baths. At a preliminary hearing in June, authorities said the children were an average of 32 pounds underweight. They often starved and were deprived of water, but when they were fed, their diets mostly consisted of frozen burritos, baloney sandwiches and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Investigators testified that the children lacked education and said a 22-year-old son had told them he only completed the third grade. Photos show some of the Turpin children wearing feces-stained clothing, which investigators described as putrid. In photos, the children appear bruised on their wrists and torsos from shackles and other forms of punishment.
