Their removal should have been the end of the nightmare for the siblings, who were aged between 2 and 29 when they found freedom, but the youngest six children allege that the abuse they received in foster care was worse than they received at home.
California couple David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, tortured a dozen of their children for years, starving them to the point that their growth was stunted, chaining them to their beds for up to months, preventing them from using the toilet at times and forbidding them from showering more than once a year.
Booking photos of Louise Anna Turpin, left, and David Allen Turpin. Photo / AP
When police arrived at the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on a dead-end street in Perris, about 97km southeast of Los Angeles, they were shocked by what they found.
Malnutrition was so severe that it was consistent with muscle wasting and had led to cognitive impairment and nerve damage, Hestrin said. The oldest child, a 29-year-old woman, weighed 37kg. A 12-year-old was the weight of a typical 7-year-old.
Some of the 13 children had been isolated so long they did not know what a police officer was.
In 2022, the six youngest siblings took a case against Riverside County in California and ChildNet Youth and Family Services, a private provider.
They have alleged they were abused physically, emotionally and sexually by the Olguin family after they were placed into their care.
After the civil lawsuit was filed, Marcelino, 64, and Rosa Olguin, 58, - and their daughter Lennys, 37, were arrested and charged.
Marcelino Olguin was charged with 13 counts including a lewd act with a child and wilful child cruelty.
Rosa and Lennys were accused of fraud and witness intimidation.
The Turpins are now seeking a settlement in the civil case and a lawyer representing two siblings has spoken out.
“Some of the kids will tell you that what they experienced in the foster home was even worse than what they experienced at the hands of their parents,” Elan Zekster told The Sun.
“They were made to feel worthless at home by their parents and then they were hit again when they went to the foster home. They constantly told these children, ‘Your parents were right. You are worthless. You’re a nobody. You’re a Turpin,’ like that was some kind of grotesque thing. And it brought their confidence to an all new low,” the lawyer told People.
Louise and David Turpin's children were with them when they renewed their vows but suffered and rarely went outdoors when at the family's home.
The civil complaints contain allegations that Marcelino Olguin sexually abused multiple female siblings by “grabbing and fondling their buttocks, legs and breasts, kissing them on their mouths and making sexually suggestive comments.”
Emotional abuse alleged by the Turpins includes being made to sit in a circle and share details of the torture inflicted on them by their parents and they also claim they were forced to eat until they were sick - and then forced to eat their vomit.
“The thing that kills me most is that when they were in the Turpin home, they were told they didn’t deserve to be like everyone else, that they were bad kids, bad people – that’s what their parents put on them,” Zektser said.
“Then the foster family used that against them and compounded those feelings.”
The Olguin family have pleaded not guilty to all charges and the criminal case against them is still pending.
‘My parents took my whole life’
The eldest of the Turpin children had the opportunity to confront their parents when David and Louise Turpin were sentenced in 2019.
The courtroom fell hushed as the oldest daughter entered wearing a blue cardigan over a white shirt, her dark hair in a ponytail. Her eyes were already red from crying when she began to speak in the voice of a little girl.
“My parents took my whole life from me, but now I’m taking my life back,” she said, as her mother’s lower lip quivered trying to hold back the tears. “Life may have been bad but it made me strong. I fought to become the person I am. I saw my dad change my mum. They almost changed me, but I realised what was happening. I immediately did what I could to not become like them.”
David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin in court. Photo / AP
There was no explanation from the parents or lawyers about why the abuse occurred, but a letter from one of the children read by an attorney hinted at a home life that veered from birthday celebrations and trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas to severe punishment and disarray.
“Through the years, things became more and more overwhelming, but they kept trusting in God,” the girl wrote, “I remember our mother sitting in her recliner and crying, saying she don’t know what to do.”
“I cannot describe in words what we went through growing up,” said the oldest son. “Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that have happened, such as my siblings being chained up or getting beaten. But that is the past and this is now. I love my parents and have forgiven them for a lot of the things that they did to us.”
