See the moment the 13 children of the California “horror house” were rescued after being held captive by their parents. Video from CCTV emerged Wednesday of the children being escorted from the house by officers after the arrest of their parents David and Louise Turpin.
In the video obtained from a neighbor’s security camera, police are on the scene after the Turpins’ 17-year-old daughter escaped the house through a window and called 911. She had reportedly been planning the escape for two years.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Officers escort the youngsters from the home, one of whom is carrying a sibling while another runs to catch up with the others. The 13 Turpin siblings, aged 2-29, were allegedly chained to furniture, tortured and starved for years.
An officer can be seen ushering the siblings inside a large police van.
Details of the ghastly circumstances the Turpin kids were forced to live through have emerged since David and Louise Turpin were arrested and charged with 12 counts of torture, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, six counts of child abuse or neglect and 12 counts of false imprisonment. David Turpin was also was charged with a lewd act on a child by force or fear of duress.
If convicted of all charges, the Turpins could face 94 years to life in prison.
When police raided the “house of horrors” on Sunday, Jan. 14, some of the siblings were found lying in their own feces.
The smell was terrible,” Deputy Mike Vasquez of the Riverside Sheriff’s Office told the Daily Mail. “Feces and urine everywhere.”
“It’s what happens when people are chained up — there’s nowhere else to go to the restroom,” he continued.
What’s more is that after authorities had a chance to speak with the children and parents, it came out that the children were allowed to shower only once a year — and ate one rationed meal per day, according to Riverside District Attorney Mike Hestrin.
All 13 kids are receiving IV treatments in the hospital, and officials say they are malnourished to the point where they could go into shock.
Hospital officials say that the kids are so malnourished, that the five legal adult children look “half their age.” Ranging between 18 and 29, the five female and two male captives of their parents are malnourished but in good spirits as they receive treatment at the Corona Regional Medical Center.
“That is a sobering experience for all of us, when you see a 29-year-old that looks like they are 12 or 13 or 14,” said Mark Uffer, CEO of the facility.
The six underage siblings were sent to a different facility as their elder siblings, but Uffer said that the whole of them being underdeveloped is a direct result of year of malnutrition.
“I have been a hospital administrator for a long time and I have been in healthcare since 1973 … I have never seen this,” he said. “I can share with you that I have spent a fair amount of time with these kids … we call them kids but they are adults. It is heartbreaking to see this. It really hits home.”
Despite the trauma that they all have endured, it is being reported that they are all doing well.
“They are very cognizant of what has occurred” Uffer said. “They are aware of the situation. They are coping with it. I would say they are happy in the environment that they are in right now. They feel that the nurses and the team of medical professionals that are taking care of them actually care about them as people and that we are here to help them — that they are safe and being treated with incredible dignity.
“You can tell they are a family and you can tell they really care about each other,” he added. “They sort of just cope. This is the cards they were dealt and they have just coped with it. We all feel very fortunate when you come from a two-parent household who treated you with love and tenderness and made sure you went to school and brushed your teeth and went to bed on time.”
The Turpin parents, whose parents and other family members say they had no idea how they were treating their children, are currently scheduled to appear in court on Thursday. They are being held on $9 million bond.
Here is how to help the California “horror house” victims, if you are interested.
