Parents of 13 ‘shackled’ siblings charged with torture
Siblings aged two to 29 kept chained up in family's California home, police say
The parents of 13 brothers and sisters believed to have been held captive in their California home were charged today with multiple counts of torture and child endangerment.
Bail was set at $9m (£6.5m) each for David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, reports CNN, citing the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
Police say they discovered the siblings, some shackled to beds with chains and padlocks, inside the house in Perris, about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The captives are believed to be siblings aged between two and 29. They were located after a 17-year-old girl escaped and raised the alarm using a mobile phone she had found in the house.
The sheriff’s department says officers found “several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings”.
The parents were “unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner”, the BBC reports.
The escaped teen looked like she was “only ten years old and [was] slightly emaciated”, and officers were “surprised to learn that seven of [the captives] were adults”, police said.
David Turpin’s parents have told ABC7 they are “surprised and shocked” at the allegations against their son and daughter-in-law, with whom they had been in regular contact but hadn’t seen in four or five years.
The couple were described by David's parents as “deeply religious” and were said to have believed that God had “called on them” to have so many children, The Daily Telegraph says.
CNN reports that the home is registered as the Sandcastle Day School, a “private school serving grades 1-12”. David Turpin is listed as the school’s principal.
The New York Times says the family’s neighbours “rarely saw the parents or the children, except for when some of the siblings were mowing the yard”.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
LA-to-Las Vegas high-speed rail line breaks ground
Speed Read The railway will be ready as soon as 2028
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Israel's military intelligence chief resigns
Speed Read Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first leader to quit for failing to prevent the Hamas attack in October
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What we know about the Copenhagen mall shooting
Speed Read Lone gunman had mental health issues and not thought to have terror motive, police say
By The Week Staff Published
-
Texas school shooting: parents turn anger on police
Speed Read Officers had to be urged to enter building where gunman killed 21 people
By The Week Staff Published
-
DJ Tim Westwood denies multiple sexual misconduct allegations
Speed Read At least seven women accuse the radio and TV presenter of predatory behaviour dating back three decades
By The Week Staff Published
-
What happened to Katie Kenyon?
Speed Read Man charged as police search for missing 33-year-old last seen getting into van
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Brooklyn subway shooting: exploring New York’s ‘steep decline in law and order’
Speed Read Last week, a gunman set off smoke bombs and opened fire on a rush-hour train in the city
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
How the Capitol attack investigation is splitting the Republicans
Speed Read Vote to censure two Republican representatives has revealed deep divisions within party
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is sentencing a Nazi sympathiser to read Shakespeare an appropriate punishment?
Speed Read Judge seemed to think introducing student ‘to high culture’ would ‘magically make him a better person’ said The Daily Telegraph
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sarah Everard’s murder: a national reckoning?
Speed Read Wayne Couzen’s guilty plea doesn’t ‘tidy away the reality of sexual violence’
By The Week Staff Last updated