David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin will likely head to prison for the rest of their lives on Friday, with a grim reminder why going public via ABC News. In exclusive audio of the 911 call made by their daughter after she escaped their home, the teen gave chilling details about the situation her siblings allegedly faced.
“My parents are abusive,” the teen told the 911 dispatcher at the time, sounding far younger than her age according to ABC News. “My two little sisters right now are chained up … they’re chained up to their bed.”
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She would continue and point out that the Turpins were allegedly “abusive” and added that she and the other kids “live in filth” with a family of 15, with 13 being her brothers and sisters.
“Sometimes I wake up and can’t breathe because of how dirty the house is.”
The call was played in court back in June during testimony in a preliminary hearing for David and Louise Turpin, leading to its public release this week ahead of their sentencing hearing on Friday. The couple pleaded guilty to charges of one count of torture and one count of depending abuse alongside several counts of false imprisonment, child endangerment, and adult abuse according to ABC news. They were initially accused of abusing 12 of their 13 children, with the call supporting allegations that the couple chained the children to their bed and allegedly beating them.
When the call was placed in January 2018, the children in the house ranged from ages 2 to 29 according to PEOPLE.
The 911 call continues to act as a window into that world, with the teenager noting that despite her age, she had yet to finish first grade and was unaware of the many aspects of the world outside of the home.
“I haven’t been out. I don’t go out much. I don’t know anything about the streets or anything,” the unidentified girl said to 911 dispatchers. “We don’t really do schools. I haven’t finished first grade and I am 17.”
Once officers arrived on the scene, they discovered a “scene of squalor” inside the house according to PEOPLE. They also allegedly found some of the children chained to the furniture. They also discovered all of the children were severely malnourished aside from the youngest child. The eldest child, a 29-year-old woman, reportedly only weighed 82 pounds.
“This is among the worst, most aggravated child abuse cases I have ever seen,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin told reporters at a press conference when the guilty plea was announced. Prosecutors on the case also alleged that the parents did not allow the children to bathe more than once a year and never allowed any of the children to see a dentist.
Hestrin noted to the press that his office pushed for the plea deal in order to avoid forcing the children to testify in the case.
“We decided that the victims have endured enough torture and abuse,” Hestrin said. “I personally met with the victims and, rest assured, they are all relieved to know this case has been resolved. The defendants in this case essentially accepted the maximum punishment under current California law.”
Once they are sentenced, the couple will likely be in prison for 25 years to life and will be up for parole after serving 25 years.
The silver lining according to PEOPLE is that the kids are not bitter over their situation.
“They really take every day as it is, as a gift,” Jack Osborn, the children’s attorney told NBC News. “[They] came from a situation that seemed to normal to them. And now they’re in a new normal. And so I think they may spend a long time processing the two.”
