RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A couple in California who shackled their 13 children to beds and starved them were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
On February 22, 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty in Riverside County Superior Court to 14 counts, including abusing minor and adult children and imprisoning them in their house.
The case was dubbed “House of Horrors” despite the neat exterior appearance of the Turpin’s home.
The Turpins were arrested in January 2018 when their 17-year-old daughter called 911 after escaping from the family’s home.
The children, who ranged from two to 29 years of age, were severely underweight and hadn’t bathed for months.
Officials say some of the children also had stunted growth and wasted muscles and described being beaten, starved and put in cages.
All the children were hospitalized immediately after being discovered. Riverside County authorities then obtained temporary conservatorship over the adults.
On April 19, emotional victim impact statements from their children were read in court before David and Louise Turpin were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
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