DA Details Poor Living Conditions, Health Of Children Held Captive By Parents
The couple has been charged with multiple crimes, including torture. The district attorney told a packed room of at least 50 reporters and photographers that the children endured years of severe emotional and physical abuse.
The Desert Sun:
DA: Perris Children Were Chained For Months At A Time, Beaten, Starved, Showered Once A Year, Never Educated
At first, the Turpin children were tied up with rope at their family home. But as they tried to get free, they were hogtied. Living in filth, they were only allowed to shower once a year. They were starved to the point of stunted growth, and their parents taunted them with food, buying apple pies and leaving them on the counter uneaten. Beaten, choked and chained up for months at a time, the children began devising a plan to make their escape — two years ago. It wasn't until Sunday that one captive, a 17-year-old daughter, was able to muster the courage to escape through a window. Her 911 call from an inactive cell phone eventually lead authorities to the house of horrors in Perris, where David and Louise Turpin are accused of imprisoning their 13 children. (Kelman and Atagi, 1/18)
In other news from across California —
Fresno Bee:
A Baby Died In Merced Hospital. Then Her Parents Disappeared
Police are looking for the public's help to find the parents of an infant who died earlier this week at Mercy Medical Center, Atwater police said on Thursday. Emergency responders were called to an Atwater home about 7:40 p.m. Tuesday after a 2-month-old girl was reported to be not breathing, according to police. Responders started life-saving efforts and the child was taken to Merced Medical Center in Merced, where she later died, according to Detective Anthony Cardoza. (Miller, 1/18)
The Desert Sun:
Coachella Fined A 91-Year-Old Dementia Patient $39K
A Desert Sun investigation has revealed that Coachella City Hall fined 91-year-old Marjorie Sansom, who was dying of dementia, $39,000 because of her abandoned property. Now that Sansom has died, Coachella says her family has to pay. (1/18)