Riverside County Sheriff\'s Department David Turpin and Louise Turpin.
David and Louise Turpin of Perris, California, have been arrested, after police say that they abused their children.
Police were alerted to the couple’s home when one of the children, a 17-year-old girl whose name has not been released, was able to escape. She used a cell phone to call police, telling them that her siblings had been tied up in poor living conditions. According to authorities, the Turpins had shackled some of their 13 children to beds, many of them malnourished and filthy.
“After interviewing the teen, investigators went to the residence and contacted her parents, identified as 56-year-old David Allen Turpin and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin, according to the release. Investigators discovered ‘several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings,’ the release said. The parents could not provide a ‘logical’ explanation for why the kids were restrained, investigators said,” according to KTLA.
The couple’s children, who range in age from two to 29 years old, have all been hospitalized.
David and Louise Turpin have been charged with torture and child endangerment. They each face nine felony counts of torture and 10 felony counts of child endangerment. They are each being held on $9 million bail. According to the Daily Mail, both Mr. and Mrs. Turpin are being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center. They are expected to appear in court later this week.
The couple shared a joint Facebook page, on which they often posted photos of themselves and of their family. In July 2016, the couple shared several wedding photos. It appeared as though they tied the knot in Las Vegas, exchanging vows in front of their brood, complete with an Elvis Presley impersonator.
You can see some of those photos below.
The photos below show Louise Turpin in a white strapless wedding gown and her husband, David Turpin, in a black suit complete with a bowtie.
Below you can see a picture of the Turpins with their 13 children at the wedding venue. The nine older girls were all wearing matching pink plaid dresses with white tights and white shoes. The three boys were wearing suits with matching ties that appear to complement the girls’ dresses. The smallest child in the photo is wearing a pink dress with white tights, but doesn’t match her sisters.
The next photo shows the Turpin family all dressed in matching shirts from The Cat in the Hat. It is possible that the family was on vacation when the picture was taken. They also shared pictures from a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.
“Great looking family. Louise you look as young as some of the girls,” wrote one Facebook user who is friends with the couple on the social media site.
“Beautiful,” wrote another.
In the next photo, the Turpin family is seen wearing matching outfits — blue jeans and light blue collared shirts — for what appears to be a staged photoshoot.
You can see a couple of more pictures of the Turpins below.
“Love love love my sister and brother-in-law,” read a comment on the photo above, posted two years ago.
The following photos were taken of David and Louise Turpin in court on Thursday, January 18.
GettyLouise Turpin in court.
GettyDavid Allen Turpin appears in court.
GettyLouise Turpin smiling in court.
GettyLouise and David Turpin with their attorneys.
