The Turpin Family

In January of 2018, the country became fixated on a quiet neighborhood in Perris, CA. 911 received a frantic call from a young girl who said she had escaped from her home, where she and her siblings were kept hostage. When police arrived and entered the house, they found David and Louise Turpin, and 12 of their children, all of whom were malnourished and appeared to have suffered unimaginable abuse.

The Case of the Turpin Family

Louise Robinette grew up in Princeton, West Virginia, with her two younger sisters, Teresa and Elizabeth. Her sister Teresa described her growing up as shy and quiet. Growing up, their family was devout Pentecostal Christians who attended the Princeton Church of God. Their father was a preacher. We’re not talking just attending on Sunday mornings and calling it a week. They were at the church multiple days throughout each week, either for bible study or church services, or whatever events might be going on within the church. As members of this church, they were forbidden to drink, and during the services, the congregation would speak in tongues.

While attending church, Louise first met David Turpin. David’s family was also very active in the church. His mother taught the Sunday school lessons. The two families were very familiar with one another, and because of their high standings within the church spent lots of time together. Louise knew David pretty much all of her life.

David Turpin was born on October 17th, 1961 and has an older brother, James. Growing up, David was described as very quiet. He was a member of the chess and bible clubs at Princeton High School. Louise’s sister said that David was always just sitting back and observing, and that he was very, very book smart. He graduated from Princeton high school and then went on to graduate from Virginia Tech as a computer engineer. Throughout the years, he would have different jobs, including working at Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, both are well known and respected aerospace and technology companies.

When David was in his early 20s, and Louise in her teens, the two began dating. Louise’s father was not happy about this at all. He was pissed, for obvious reasons, and told Louise she couldn’t date David. Louise’s mother however, loved the idea of the two dating, and allowed her to continue seeing David, while hiding it from her husband. She was very fond of David and his family. In her mind, they were a good Christian family, so it couldn’t really be a bad thing.

After their relationship had gone on for a while, the couple decided that they wanted to get married. So David decided that he was going to put on a hat and a fake mustache and went into Louise’s school to check her out, claiming to be her father. The pair decided to elope and packed their bags and set out across the country. They made it as far as Texas when Louise’s father and mother found out where they were and persuaded them to return home. Her father was not happy with her decision, but he told her that if that was the life she wanted, he would let her get married. He said he would always be her dad, but she would be on her own.

On February 11th, 1985, Louise and David married in a small church about half an hour outside of Princeton, West Virginia. David was 23 years old and Louise was 16. In 1988, the couple had their first child, a girl. After their daughter is born, David and Louise decide it’s time to leave West Virginia. In 1992, they relocated to Fort Worth, Texas where they had another child.

Don't Mess With Texas

While in Texas, the Turpin’s were living the good life. They lived in a nice 2 story home and drove nice cars. Every year, they would fly Louise’s family out to visit them and treat them to different experiences. They would go to Disneyworld, Six Flags, Universal Studios, etc, or just take them out shopping and out to eat every night. Teresa said that their house was beyond beautiful, and just “happy.” It was always spotless. David and Louise would oftentimes just give their family cash, for no reason at all. All of this lavish spending however, seemed most likely just to be for show. In 1992, the Turpin’s filed for bankruptcy. They were spending much more money than they were bringing in.

From 1992 to 1996, David and Louise had four more children, bringing the total to 6 children. By 1998, the all expense paid trips to come out and visit had stopped. The district attorney’s office that would eventually prosecute the Turpin parents surmised that the abuse and neglect of the children started around this time, when the family was in Fort Worth. Their oldest daughter was attending a local elementary school, and she was picked on because of her appearance. The other children called her the “smelly girl” and laughed at her, because she used a candy bar wrapper as a hair tie, to tie back her hair. Shortly after this, David and Louise begin to home school their children.

By 1999, another child had joined the group, bringing them up to 7 children. Louise and the children retreated from the public almost completely. She had cut ties with her family back in West Virginia. The family also moved out of their home in Fort Worth. When the new owners of their home looked through it, they were taken back by the condition. The carpets were stained and soiled. The walls were covered in dirt and just… filth. And some of the doors in the bedrooms had scratches on them.

The Turpins moved to Rio Vista, Texas, onto a 36 farm. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was the kind of area where neighbors always looked out for one another, but everyone wanted their own privacy and respected everyone else’s.

One neighbor, Shelli Vineyard, had a daughter who would go outside and play with the Turpin children. They would explore the land, catch crawfish in the local creek, and in general just do the kinds of things that children growing up in the country did. That didn’t last long though. Eventually, the children would stop playing with her daughter. When they were outside, they were always making sure they were close to home, so they could retreat inside if anyone approached them.

One day, Shelli approached some of the children while they were out near the road. She tried to talk to them a bit, but they wouldn’t really engage her. When one child did, another told her, “No, stop,” as if they would get in trouble for talking to her. While she was talking to them she noticed something peculiar. Their hands were white, like they were wearing latex gloves, but they weren’t wearing gloves. Their hands were actually perfectly clean. The rest of their bodies were so dirty, that the cleanliness of their hands stood out that much. The children told her that it was a “waste of water to wash anything above your wrist.” Shelli said that was when she kind of pulled back and stopped trying to engage the family. No one notified any authorities about the situation at the Turpin house. Obviously, looking back, she wished she had done more.

When David and Louise learned that Shelli was asking questions about the family, they forbade the children from playing with any of the neighbors. The children no longer would come out and play during the day. The house was silent all day long. At night however, the children would be in the front yard playing, and the house would be lit up. It was another way for the parents to isolate their children from the rest of the world.

Some other neighbors said that they saw two of the older boys out one night. When they looked closer, they boys were huddled over a trash can, digging food out and eating. Again, after his incident, no one questioned what was going on with the Turpin house.

In 2010, Shelli was taking her daughter to school one morning. On their drive, they saw one of the older Turpin children crossing through a field and over fences. They estimated that from her home to where she was had to have been around three miles. A different neighbor picked the girl up. When she was in her car, she asked the girl questions about who she was. The girl didn’t know key facts about her own life and the world in general. She didn’t even know her own age or who the president was at the time. The girl asked the neighbor how she could get a job, apartment, and a car. She asked the neighbor to call 911, but she just returned home to her parents. There were no reports to the sheriff’s office regarding this “escape” attempt.

While in Rio Vista, the Turpin gang continued to grow. Louise gave birth to five more children, bringing their total to 12. The family has pretty much been successful at removing themselves from society. They managed to keep to themselves, until in 2001, the sheriff’s office was called about the Turpins. In June of 2001, a hospital reported that there was a child with a dog bite. One of the Turpin’s pets had bitten one of the children, and David took the child to the hospital for treatment. The sheriff’s office followed up but nothing was out of the ordinary at the family home.

In 2003, a hog that David owned had gotten loose from it’s pen. It wandered over to a neighbor’s property and ate a 50 pound bag of dog food. The neighbor called the sheriff, who went out and talked to David. He put the hog back into the pen and bought a new 50 pound bag of food for the neighbor. Since there was no cause to go into the home, nothing ever came of either of these visits by the Sheriff’s office.

In 2010, David lost his job with Lockheed Martin. Their family quickly sunk into debt, and their home was foreclosed upon. Then, one night, they just disappeared. They packed up in their van and vanished. When they left, neighbors took the opportunity to take a peek at the inside of the home. As they opened the doors, the family dogs came shooting out, having been left behind and surviving on trash.

They found a makeshift school setup in the living room. There was trash everywhere. Carpets were ripped up and plywood was laid down. Everything was stained and…gross. When Shelli looked into the bedrooms, there were bunk beds setup, a few in each room. She noticed that on the bunk beds, there were ropes tied to each of them. She thought it was odd but assumed that the kids had done it.

California Love

In May 2010, when the Turpin crew abandoned their Rio Vista, Texas home, they headed West and settled in Murrieta, California. When they arrived there, the children’s world shrank even more than it was before. The neighborhood they lived in was a cul-de-sac, much different from the 30+ acre farm they lived on in Texas. Once they were in California, David and Louise decided that they wanted to “expand their horizons.” Louise had never drank or smoked, so they began to go out to bars and experiment.

David had arranged for Louise to meet a man at a bar. He drove her to the bar, and they met the man. After a few drinks, they went to a hotel, and as David waited outside, Louise and the man had sex. They recorded it for David to watch. A year later, David took Louise back to the same hotel and got the same room, where they spent the night together.

It’s unknown how long Louise and David were “wild-n-out,” but they eventually stopped experimenting. They also decided that they wanted to open a school. They named it “The Sandcastle Day School.” Not surprising though, the only students were members of the Turpin family. Authorities theorized that this was just another way to isolate their 12 children from the outside world. Louise’s sister, Teresa, also believes that the “school” was just a cover to keep people from looking into the family. If the children weren’t going to public school, there would be no reason for anyone to look into why they were so neglected.

In 2014, The Turpin clan was again on the move. This time, they end up in Perris, CA. After their rescue, authorities said that they thought their abuse intensified once they arrived in Perris. When there, they allowed their eldest son to take a class at a local community college. A classmate said that whenever he came to class, Louise always waited outside for him, and when class was over, they immediately left. He never talked to anyone. Some days, there would be food at the class, doughnuts or pizza sometimes. The classmate said that when there was food, he would just stay by the table and eat. Pizza slice after pizza slice after pizza slice.

At this point, Teresa and their family started to question what was going on with the family. She asked why the older kids didn’t have cell phones or why they weren’t ever allowed to talk to them. Louise told her that the kids didn’t want to talk to her or any other family members. They just wanted to stay home and help her raise the children. Neighbors reported that the Turpins were standoffish. Not in a rude way, but just in a “I’ll stay in my lane, you stay in your lane,” kind of way. When the children were rescued, some neighbors claimed that they didn’t even know they had children. In 2015, they welcomed their 13th and final child. David also planned a wedding vow renewal in Vegas, with an Elvis impersonator. All 15 members of the family were in attendance.

Their 17 year old daughter managed to reach out to the outside world. She was able to get internet access and create a youtube account named “Lacey Swan.” She would record and post videos of original songs she wrote and performed. In hindsight, the song titles are very telling. “What’s Wrong?” “You Blame Me for Everything.” “So Weak.” “Where Is The Key.” “It’s Over.”

The Escape and End of the Abuse

After a certain point, Louise started to just send pictures of the new baby to Teresa. Teresa constantly asked for pictures of her nieces and nephews, but Louise just sent pictures of the baby. When pushed as to why, Louise always said that it was hard to get everyone together, but she would eventually. Louise also mentioned to her half brother that she and David were thinking about having another baby. He thought she was joking, or playing around just to see how he would respond or get a rise out of him.

Billy has mentioned that when he talked to Louise about having another child, she told him that they were moving to California to be closer to Hollywood. She said that their family was perfect for TV, and that they could be bigger than the reality show Kate Plus 8. Billy said that she genuinely thought people would be fascinated by their lives. “They thought it would make them millions and they would become a household name. They didn’t care about the kids. It was all about them (them being David and Louise.”

On January 14th, 2018, two of the girls decided that they were going to escape and get help. A younger sibling (13) and an older sibling (17), escaped out of a window of the Turpin home. The thirteen year old got scared and turned back and went back into the window. The 17 year old ran. She ran a good distance away and pulled out the cell phone she took with her from the home. When she tried to dial at first, she was so scared that she was shaking. Eventually though, she calmed herself enough, and she called 911.

“OK. I live in a family of 15 people and my parents are abusive. They abuse us and my two little sisters right now are chained up”
“And how many of your siblings are tied up?” the dispatcher replies.
“Two of my sisters. One of my brothers,” she answers.
“How are they tied up — with rope or with what?” the dispatcher asks.
“With chains. They are chained up to their bed.”

Officers were dispatched and when they found her, she showed them pictures of her siblings and their living conditions inside the home. The police immediately asked her to take them to the house.

When they knocked on the door, Louise was shocked and perplexed as to why they were there. David and Louise were unable to provide any logical reason as to why the children were shackled and chained.

The children had been planning their escape for more than two years. When the police raided the house, they found one child still shackled to a bed and it appeared that two others had just recently been released from shackles. Initially, the police thought that the children were all under 18 years old, because of the level of malnourishment. Seven were in fact over the age of 18.

During a January 19, 2018 press conference, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin read the charges that were filed against David and Louise.

12 counts of torture against David and Louise
1 count of lewd act on a child under 14 years of age by force, fear, or duress against David (When asked about this, the DA said that David touched the child)
7 counts of abuse of a dependant adult against David and Louise
6 counts of child abuse or neglect against David and Louise
12 counts of false imprisonment against David and Louise
David was charged with perjury at a later date, related to affidavits he filed with the CA Dept. of Education over the years, claiming that the children were being educated in a private school

The date range of the charges were from 2010 – 2018. If convicted of all of the charges as filed, they would face 94 years to life imprisonment. Hestrin then gave some details about the case. He gave an overview of the case in hopes that anyone with additional information would come forward and speak with the DA office.

Hestrin said that the parents had completely reversed the children’s sleep cycles. They would sleep all day and be up all night. This was a way to keep them from being seen outside during the day and keep them isolated. These sleep patterns continued well past their rescue as well.

Starting many years ago, the children were tied up to their beds as a form of punishment. In one instance, a child was hogtied. When the children began to be able to escape being tied up, their parents moved on to using chains and padlocks. They would be tied or chained up for weeks or months at a time. Upon searching the home, there was evidence that showed that while they were chained up, the children weren’t released to go to the bathroom.

Hestrin said that the abuse began when they lived in TX but intensified as they moved to Murrieta, then to Perris, CA. All of the children suffered from severe caloric malnutrition. The 12 year old was the weight of an average seven year old. The 29 year old weighed 82 pounds. David and Louise would buy food for themselves but not the children. They would often buy pies and leave them out on the counter for the children to see but not eat. They would eat the pies in front of the children. Several of the children had impairment to their cognitive abilities because of the abuse. The children were allowed to shower only once a year. If they washed their hands above the wrist area, they were “playing in the water” and beaten then chained up.

When the investigators were talking to the children, it became clear that many of the children lacked knowledge of just basic life. Many didn’t know what a police officer was. The 17 year old didn’t know what medication or pills were when she was asked if there were any in the home. Shockingly, the “Sandcastle Day School” didn’t offer a great education to these children.

The police discovered that none of the children were allowed to have or play with any toys, although there were several toys spread throughout the house. They were all still in their original packaging. It seemed like they were almost left out just to taunt the children. One time, Louise struck and began to choke one of the girls for watching a Justin Bieber video.

One of the few things the children did have access to when they were locked in their rooms or chained to their beds were journals. Police recovered hundreds of journals from the house. DA Mike Hestrin described it as “severe emotional and physical abuse. This is depraved conduct…. What started out as neglect became severe, pervasive, prolonged child abuse” During the press conference, a reporter asked why there were 12 counts of torture instead of 13, when there were 13 children. He stated that from all appearances, David and Louise actually fed the 2 year old, and that the basis of the torture charges stemmed from them not giving the children food.

Leading Up To The Trials

Teresa, Louise’s sister, spoke in “The Turpin 13: Family Secrets Exposed” about abuse that she and Louise suffered as children. She made it very clear that she didn’t think that this excused her sister’s actions. Teresa told a story of how the girl’s mother would let their grandfather abuse the girls in exchange for money.

She said that as their grandfather was abusing them, he would slip money into their hands thinking that made it okay. She said, “I can still feel his breath on my neck as he whispered ‘be quiet.’ We begged her not to take us to him but she would simply say: ‘I have to clothe and feed you.’ Louise was abused the worst. He destroyed my self-worth as a child, and I know he destroyed hers too.”

David and Louise would eventually both plead guilty and avoid any trial, but leading up to that, it is believed that Louise’s defense was going to focus on the abuse she suffered as a child and make that the focus of her defense. After a while though, on February 22nd, 2019, both David and Louise pled guilty to:

One count of torture
Three counts of willful child cruelty
Four counts of false imprisonment
Six counts of cruelty to an adult dependent

Both were sentenced to Life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Experts believe that they will never be paroled though, based solely on the severity and heinous nature of their crimes.

Recovery

All of the Turpin children spent several weeks in hospitals. Six of the minors were released and placed into two foster homes. Later in 2018, Teresa, Louise’s sister, and Billy, Louise’s half brother, both said they wanted to take in and adopt their nieces and nephews if they were allowed to. After a while of trying to work through that process, Teresa realized that she wouldn’t be able to, simply because she had five children of her own, and it would be very difficult for her to provide for a family that size. In an update in April of 2020, it was stated that all of the minor children had been adopted, but no further information was given due to the fact that they were minors.

The older children have adjusted to “normal” life as best they can. It was reported that one of the siblings even graduated college and was pursuing a career as a medical field technician. A lawyer for the siblings said, “It was a completely new experience to that client. It was frightening a lot of the time, but completely gratifying.” And, “They don’t want their experience they went through as children to define them. They want people to know that they are normal, young, healthy adults doing what everyone else is doing out there.”

Most reports and information about this case does not reveal any of the children’s names, and we have followed suit. These children and adults have been through horrors that many people will luckily never have to experience, and they deserve any privacy that they can get.

According to David’s parents, David and Louise were adherents of the Quiverfull movement. The Quiverfull movement is a theological position followed by some conservative Christians. These people see large families as a gift from God. It encourages procreation and abstinence from any type of birth control. The couple kept having children because, “God called on them.” From 1988 to 2015, David and Louise had 13 children.

David Turpin was sent to the Mule Creek State Prison, but eventually was transferred to California State Prison, Corcoran. Louise Turpin is in the Central California Women’s Facility. Hopefully there are barbers in David’s Prison, so they can do something about that damn hair cut.