Thirteen children who were held in house of horrors by their abusive parents were only allowed to shower twice a YEAR and were fed just one meal a day—
UNBELIEVABLE! I’m disgusted that not one person reported them and NOT ONE neighbor, family or otherwise noticed something wasn’t right. Something is NOT right with that!
As they await prosecution and as the children, who are so malnourished doctors fear they may go into shock, recover, new details have emerged about the horrifying conditions they were forced to endure.
The new owners of properties the family lived in in Texas have also come forward to share disturbing photographs of the state they left their houses in once they moved out.
Scratch marks, stained carpets and closets that had been converted into cages were among the indicators of abuse left at the properties in Fort Worth and Rio Vista.
The new owner of the Rio Vista house told CBS that neighbors described the house, when the Turpins lived in it, as a ‘religious compound’.
They said none of the children were ever allowed to reveal their names.
All of the children were homeschooled, including the ones who are now adults. Their mental capacity is much younger than their age, according to authorities.
Education officials in California who are alarmed by the story have revealed that no inspections were ever carried out at the couple’s home.
The law requires private schools to register as such. Once they do, the state department of education cannot legally monitor them but they must undergo a fire safety inspection.
In the case of the Turpins, no such inspection ever took place. It is not clear if the couple ever registered their home or themselves as a private school.
‘We are sickened by this tragedy and relieved the children are now safe and authorities are investigating.
‘Private schools are required to register with the state to record their students’ exemption from compulsory attendance at public schools.
‘Under current California law, the CDE does not approve, monitor, inspect, or oversee private schools,’ a spokesman said this week.
Well that’s just great. Good job, California.
Widget not in any sidebars
Thirteen children
When they were found by authorities, the children were all lying in feces. The adults among them are ‘so small’ police say they look like children.
Deputies showed no signs of hesitation in categorizing the abuse they suffered as ‘torture’. Further details of any specific injuries are yet to emerge but all 13 children are being treated in hospital.
Police say it is difficult to record credible statements from them because their mental states are so fragile.
The 17-year-old who saved the entire brood has however told them that she believed she would be killed by her parents if they caught her trying to escape.
‘In her mind, she was risking her life,’ a source told the Daily Mirror. She used a disabled cell phone to call 911.
Several neighbors in both California and Texas, where the family lived until 2010, have come forward to say they found the Disney-obsessed couple ‘odd’.
But child protection services in Perris said on Thursday they were never once alerted to the home nor did they receive complaints about the Turpins.
Not one person called us. How sad,’ Mary Parks, senior public information specialist for the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services, told Desert Sun on Thursday as she, along with the rest of the country, lamented the torture the children faced.
One neighbor, who gave his name only as Mike, said he often saw the couple ‘marching the children in circles’ on the second floor of the home between midnight and 3am.
He told The New York Post they were like a ‘cult’ and that his wife called them ‘clones’ who spoke robotically and at the same time.
Brenda Taylor, Louise Turpin’s aunt, told CNN on Thursday how she believed the facade the couple portrayed on social media where they posted happy photographs of the family on vacations to Disney Land and at the couple’s vow renewal ceremony.
‘With the pictures they put on Facebook, you thought they were one big happy family,’ she said.
Taylor said her niece, who is now 49, married David when she was just 16.
When David’s parents last visited them in California from his native West Virginia, all seemed well.
‘They were just like any ordinary family. And they had such good relationships. I’m not just saying this stuff. These kids, we were amazed. They were ‘sweetie’ this and ‘sweetie’ that to each other,’ Betty Turpin, 81, said.
‘”It’s hard to believe all of this. Over the years, the Lord knows what happened,’ she added.
Other relatives have told how Louise joked about how skinny the children were and trivialized their weight by saying they were ‘tall and lanky’ like their father.
‘I always made comments to Louise, when I did talk to her about, ‘Gosh they’re so skinny’, and she would laugh it off saying ‘Well, David’s so tall and lanky. They’re going to be like him’,’ Teresa Robinette told Today earlier in the week.
People were either in denial, complicit, or just didn’t want to get involved. Whatever it was something isn’t right with it. This is absolutely horrific. Let justice be served if that’s even possible.