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Perris, United States | AFP | Investigators sought to shed light Tuesday on how a California couple arrested on suspicion of torture were able to keep their 13 malnourished children — ages 2 to 29 – confined in their suburban home in grim conditions with no one noticing.
Sheriff’s deputies found some of the children shackled to their beds in filthy conditions Sunday after receiving a 911 call from one of the kids, a 17-year-old girl who managed to escape.
She was so emaciated that officers said that at first they thought she was just 10 years old.
“Further investigation revealed several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings, but the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner,” the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
“Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that seven of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29. The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty.”
Police gave them food and beverages “after they claimed to be starving.”
The parents, 57-year-old David Allen Turpin and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin, were booked on suspicion of torture and child endangerment with bail set at $9 million each.
Turpin’s parents, who live in West Virginia, told ABC News they were “surprised and shocked,” adding they had not seen their son or his children in four or five years.
Neighbor Julio Reyes, 38, told AFP: “We’ve seen a couple of teenagers maybe last year mowing the lawn, and you know they put some Christmas decorations.”
“Never really thought anything of any sort would happen like that,” Reyes added.
– Middle class neighborhood –
The Spanish-style stucco house where the victims were allegedly held is located in a middle class neighborhood of Perris, a small city some 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles.
Three cars were parked at the home, along with a van with tinted windows. One of the cars, a blue compact, had a child’s seat in the back.
There are indications that the children were allowed outside the house in recent years.
A Facebook page under the name of David-Louise Turpin — still visible on Tuesday — includes pictures of the couple staging renewals of their wedding vows from 2011 to 2016, with their children present.
In the latest set, uploaded in April-July 2016, Louise Turpin wears a long white wedding gown while her husband is dressed in a suit.
An Elvis Presley impersonator holds a microphone and poses with the couple and children in a scene reminiscent of a Las Vegas wedding.
Nine girls, all with long dark hair, wear matching fuchsia plaid dresses with white tights, while a baby girl is dressed in a bright pink dress.
Three boys, their dark hair in bowl cuts like David Turpin, are dressed in suits with fuchsia ties.
