Turpin sisters who escaped house of horrors speak out about abuse

Table Of Content

• "House of horrors" parents get 25 years to life in prison as siblings speak out: "I'm taking my life back"
• MORE: David and Louise Turpin, parents who allegedly tortured their kids, plead guilty to 14 counts: DA
• Turpin siblings speak out in 1st interview about 'house of horrors'
• MORE: Turpin sisters describe living in 'house of horrors': 'I thought I was going to die'
• Escape and rescue
• Years After Jordan Turpin Rescued Siblings from House of Horrors, a Look Back at Her PEOPLE Interview

Unfortunately for the Turpin children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29, those promises have fallen flat. On 14 January 2018, she realised time was running out when she heard her mother scream that the family were moving to Oklahoma. "[I told her] get pictures, anything to prove so they can't think you're a teenager looking for attention," Jennifer said, appearing alongside her sister on ABC's Escape from a House of Horror - A Diane Sawyer Special Event on Friday. In 2016, Jordan said she got hold of one of her parents' old smartphones, which opened up a whole new world when she eventually discovered Justin Bieber videos. They only ate once a day, usually peanut butter sandwiches, bologna or a frozen burrito and chips, while their parents taunted them with fast food.

"House of horrors" parents get 25 years to life in prison as siblings speak out: "I'm taking my life back"

Five Turpin children remained in that home for three years while the alleged abuse took place. A lawyer for one of those family members said, "The family are devastated by these charges. At this point, we do not know the basis for these charges, and my client is denying these charges are true." Reports detailing the children's well-being, records accounting for the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by strangers, and other documents in the court filing remain sealed.

MORE: David and Louise Turpin, parents who allegedly tortured their kids, plead guilty to 14 counts: DA

Prosecutors said the punishment ranged from being beaten and choked to being shackled to their beds with no access to the bathroom for months at a time. "We are confident, given what they've been through and how resilient they are, that they're going to be really successful," said Jack Osborn, a court-appointed attorney for the seven adult children, after their parents' sentencing in 2019. The five children had even been adopted by that family in October 2019, the same time-period in which the alleged abuse was occurring. ChildNet declined to provide details about the vetting of the family, citing confidentiality laws. Recent court filings show the court-appointed public guardian failed to file the annual accounting for the trust, leaving the family's finances opaque.

Turpin siblings speak out in 1st interview about 'house of horrors'

Most of the funds have gone into a trust that is controlled by a court-appointed public guardian, but details about the guardian -- and the money -- are hard to come by. After their rescue, some of the younger siblings spent years in foster homes where there were accusations of child abuse -- including an accusation that at least one of the Turpins was a victim of such abuse, for which charges have been filed. Two of the older children have at times had to resort to "couch-surfing," one advocate said, and, in at least one case, another was assaulted. In February 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts, including torture, false imprisonment and child cruelty.

MORE: Turpin sisters describe living in 'house of horrors': 'I thought I was going to die'

Jordan Turpin's daring escape from her parent's "house of horror" has been revealed in never-before-seen bodycam footage. The Turpin parents managed to hide their abuse for years by having the family sleep during the day and awake at night. Both parents worked in their home and set up their property as a private K-12 school with the California Department of Education. Prosecutors said the deal would likely keep them in prison for the rest of their lives and spare the children from testifying. Police rushed all 13 children to the hospital, where they were treated, given clean clothes, rooms and food. The first thing Jordan said she ate was macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.

“I would try to stretch it out and make sure that we at least had stuff to eat each day of the week,” she said. Their new house eventually became filthy, Jennifer Turpin said, covered in mold, dirt and trash. The mother she used to adore started having violent mood swings when she was still very little, she said. Watch the Diane Sawyer special event, "Escape From A House Of Horror," on Friday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m.

Years After Jordan Turpin Rescued Siblings from House of Horrors, a Look Back at Her PEOPLE Interview

"When the case first broke, I obviously got thousands of offers of help ... dentists, and doctors, and people saying, 'I will serve these kids pro bono. Please send them my way,'" she said. Nearly four years later, and with nearly all media coverage gone, the order sealing almost every record in the case remains in place, effectively blocking any scrutiny from the public. In late 2018, Judge Thomas Cahraman, overseeing the conservatorships, expressed concerns that the sealing order was "too broad" -- but he ruled to keep it in place. At first, he was not sure what to make of it, but when he saw Jordan's photos of her dirty, shackled sisters he said it "really sealed the deal for me". "Over this last year, I have learned a lot about mental health and everything. It was a really rough year," Turpin said.

"[Talking to the dispatcher], I was like, 'I'm scared [my parents] are going to come,'" she continued. "They would just kill me right there, especially if they knew I was on the phone with the police." She said she asked her sisters, chained to a bed, for permission to take their photos before doing so, which she did with her brother’s old cell phone that she had secretly gotten hold of. "I was always terrified that if I called the cops or tried to escape, I would get caught, and then I knew I would die if I got caught," Jordan, now 21, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview.

Read PEOPLE's 2018 Cover Story on California House of Horrors — and Siblings' Miraculous Escape - PEOPLE

Read PEOPLE's 2018 Cover Story on California House of Horrors — and Siblings' Miraculous Escape.

Posted: Tue, 09 Nov 2021 08:00:00 GMT [source]

In the complaints, they allege not only that the foster family had a prior history of abusing children, but also that the organizations were aware of that history — and failed to act even after the children asked for help. After a Nov. 9 meeting of the county's Board of Supervisors, Chairwoman Karen Spiegel, the county's top elected official, declined to discuss specifics about what has transpired with the Turpin children since they were rescued. "Have there been other issues that have come to light in the many foster care homes in which the minor Turpin children have been placed?" Scott asked Donaldson. "They had to go to churches and eat because they didn't know how to manage money ... and some without housing at times." "They have been victimized again by the system," Mike Hestrin, the Riverside County district attorney, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in an interview for the 20/20 special event, "Escape From A House Of Horror." The interview featured newly-released bodycam footage showing Jordan after she had fled her parent's house, which became known as the "house of horror".

Both Jordan and Jennifer Turpin declined to discuss their other siblings, wanting to protect their privacy and making it clear they were only sharing their own experiences. They shared that the siblings see each other often and relish these moments. After being in the hospital, Jordan said the first place she went to was a park with two of her sisters.

State law mandates confidentiality on all juvenile court proceedings, effectively shielding the records of the minor Turpin children. But in the probate court overseeing the adult Turpin children's cases, a blanket sealing order has been issued as well-- an unusual move enacted right after the children were rescued in order to protect them from the onslaught of media coverage. Both David and Louise were charged with multiple counts of torture, false imprisonment and child abuse. Jordan and her 13-year-old sister escaped the house together by crawling out a window in January 2018, but the younger girl went back home after she got scared. Jordan, who had spent two years devising the plan with some of her siblings, carried her older brother's deactivated cellphone and called 911. The children were not the only beings in the home who were subjected to their parent’s cruel treatment.

On January 14, 2018, one of the daughters, then-17-year-old Jordan Turpin, escaped and called local police, who then raided the residence and discovered disturbing evidence. Given the number of dependents involved, the degree of abuse, and the protracted nature occurring over decades, the story garnered significant national and international news. Experts in family abuse considered the case to be extraordinary for many reasons.

As part of the probe, an outside law firm "will be seeking" to interview the Turpin children, the office also said. Current employees will be "directed to participate in this investigation," but not required. "Did we see kids having to not have a safe place to live or stay at times? Yes. Did they have enough food at times? They did not," Donaldson said. "They had to go to churches and eat because they didn't know how to manage money … and some without housing at times."