Consequences of Excessive Religious Zeal

[MineralMan]

These are the children of the parents who tortured and starved their children in Perris, CA. The eldest of the children in that group is 29 years old. Starvation kept her in a child's form. News reports say the parents were Pentecostals. They apparently believed that "God" told them to have many children.

The children were kept out of sight and home-schooled. Police found some of them chained and padlocked to their beds. One of the children, aged 17, escaped and contacted police. the parents are under arrest and on $9 million bond, each.

More: http://abc7.com/grandparents-say-god-called-on-perris-couple-to-have-so-many-children/2950254/

And: http://abc7.com/mom-of-13-held-in-perris-home-perplexed-by-arrival-of-deputies/2952866/

[Cattledog]

1. God told them to have all those children,

according to the Grandparents! They were also forced to memorize the bible. Brainwashing.

[MineralMan]

2. It's almost unthinkable, really. And yet, it happened.

One wonders what other horrors like this are out there undetected.

[struggle4progress]

3. I must confess that I have been ignorant of the religions involving

regular trips to the Elvis Chapel in Vegas to renew wedding vows with one's daughters dressed in identical plaid

Since the grandparents say the father and mother didn't have any friends in Perris and didn't belong to any church there, the Elvis Chapel in Vegas does seem to be the closest thing they had to a spiritual home

I'm afraid I'm really not very well-versed in the teachings of the Elvis Chapel. But I suspect most of its allure comes from the Elvis impersonator; and if that is indeed the case, I have already lost all interest in the Chapel, although (without wishing to defend that Chapel) I would also doubt that starving children --- or chaining them to furniture --- was any part of official Chapel doctrine

[MineralMan]

6. There are entire websites dedicated to abusive situations related

to Pentecostalism. People who have "escaped" from such situations describe things very clearly. Apparently there are philosophies and guidance by some Pentacostalist Ministers that are related to family situations like this one.

You can go research it, if you choose.

[struggle4progress]

21. Child abuse story fits widespread homeschooling pattern

Rachel Coleman and Kathryn Brightbill

... Particularly severe abuse cases that involve school-age children also tend to involve homeschooling. In a 2014 study of child torture, Barbara Knox, a pediatrician at the University of Wisconsin, found that 47% of school-age victims had been withdrawn from school for homeschooling and an additional 29% had never been enrolled.

We keep a database of homeschool abuse cases and have found disturbing details repeated over and over. More than 40% of severe and fatal cases involve some form of imprisonment. The Turpin children were found chained to their beds. So was Calista Springer, a 13-year-old Michigan girl who died in a house fire in 2009 when she was unable to free herself. Christian Choate of Indiana was kept naked in a cage; he died in 2009, at age 13, but his death was not discovered until two years later. In Arizona, a 14-year-old girl was locked in a bedroom for more than a year and routinely raped by her father; she escaped by kicking down the door when the rest of the family was away and running two miles across town to the home of a friend from when she attended school.

In Ohio, a couple forced their 11 adopted special needs children to sleep in cages. As with the Turpins, those parents told investigators they believed they had done nothing wrong. Two sisters in Florida were locked in makeshift cages and whipped with leather straps. In nearby Georgia, Mitch Comer spent four years locked in a bedroom in his family’s home. When he turned 18, his parents put him on a bus to Los Angeles with pamphlets for homeless shelters ...

The Turpin children were so socially isolated that when a neighbor spoke to them outside of their home two years ago, the children were startled and seemed scared. They were so malnourished that the oldest child, age 29, has the body of an underdeveloped 15-year-old. And all of this happened while the family was in compliance with California’s homeschool laws ...

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-coleman-brightbill-turpin-homeschool-abuse-20180117-story.html

[trotsky]

4. Are we sure they didn't do it in the name of patriotism?

[Act_of_Reparation]

7. When I was a kid...

...my parents chained me to the bed and fed me drier lint until I could recite The Federalist Papers from memory.

You're saying that's not normal?

[trotsky]

8. No, man, pretty standard for 'MURICA I think.

My experience was quite similar.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. Not so bad. My parents made me read Atlas Shrugged until I could recite Galt's speech from memory.

[Lordquinton]

10. Oh yea?

My parents buried me in the ground and electrified me until I rose up, horse and all, the same way Franklin did to George Washington.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. Well, I'd say you had me at the horse.

That's no small trick.

[Angry Dragon]

5. Visions of the Duggers

[struggle4progress]

12. 'Not one person called us,' official says

Colin Atagi, The Desert Sun
Published 1:42 p.m. PT Jan. 17, 2018

... "Not one person called us. How sad," said Mary Parks, senior public information specialist for the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services ...

"I wish I could come to you with information on why this happened," Riverside County Sheriff's Department Capt. Greg Fellows said during a news conference Tuesday ...

http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2018/01/17/not-one-person-called-official-says-neighbors-say-turpin-family-odd/1040319001/

[struggle4progress]

13. Neighbours saw children digging for food in rubbish bins

Chris Kitching
08:15, 16 JAN 2018
UPDATED 13:25, 16 JAN 2018

... Neighbours of 13 malnourished siblings .. say .. some were seen digging for food in rubbish bins.

People living next to the Turpin family have told ... "they only came out at night", they were pale and they would avoid conversation.

But .. neighbours insist .. there was nothing untoward that would have suggested something sinister was happening inside the family's .. bungalow ...

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/neighbours-house-horrors-13-siblings-11858567

[struggle4progress]

14. ... Fellows ... added that law enforcement "had no prior contacts at that residence

regarding any allegations of child abuse or neglect" ...

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/16/578227666/couple-arrested-after-children-found-shackled-to-their-beds-in-california-home

[struggle4progress]

15. Former neighbor recalls bizarre behavior

HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS
ANNA M. PHILLIPS
PALOMA ESQUIVEL
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 10:06 AM

It was usually after midnight when Mike Clifford spotted the children from the house across the street.

Some nights, he'd see about six children — none of whom looked older than 15 — getting into a passenger van with their father and wonder where they could possibly be going at such an hour. Other nights, he'd see them through a second-story window in the Murrieta house, walking in circles for long periods of time.

Clifford, an aerospace machinist who works late shifts, tried to make sense of what he saw. Maybe the children had special needs. Maybe the repetitive circling was therapeutic. Maybe it was just their routine.

"It was kind of strange," he said. But "there was never anything to say, 'Oh, my God. I should call somebody'" ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ex-neighbor-recalls-odd-behavior-kids-allegedly-held-captive-article-1.3761773

[struggle4progress]

16. Aunts reveal years of secrecy

POSTED 3:33 PM, JANUARY 17, 2018, BY CNN WIRE

... As the family grew, Flores said, Louise Turpin even shut out her own father.

Several years ago, she said, her father booked a flight to go see Louise and her family.

"He got the ticket, he was going to surprise her, and he called her to tell him he was coming. And she told him not to come."

Teresa Robinette, another sister of Louise Turpin, said she sometimes kept in touch with the mother of 13. But she was concerned about the children’s weights ...

http://wgntv.com/2018/01/17/aunts-of-13-captive-children-reveal-years-of-secrecy-and-concerns/

[struggle4progress]

17. ... David Turpins father told the Daily News he was shocked ...

"We had no idea what was going on with them," James Turpin, 84, a resident of Princeton, W.Va., told the Daily News. "We haven’t been able to get a hold of them or the children. We haven’t seen them in a while" ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/parents-accused-torturing-13-kids-lived-dungeon-like-house-article-1.3759599

[struggle4progress]

19. ... "He was a fine person," James Turpin told the Bluefield Daily Telegraph from his home

in Princeton, West Va. "He did an outstanding job and worked in school, and the last time we were out there was about six years ago. The kids were fine. They were healthy and nothing was wrong" ...

https://nypost.com/2018/01/17/grandpa-thought-horror-house-dad-was-an-excellent-father/

[pnwmom]

26. James Turpin was lying. The children and adults were skinny and underdeveloped. nt

[struggle4progress]

30. That might be the case. But I know almost nothing about him, and calling someone a liar,

when one knows very little about him, strikes me as a somewhat less-than-brilliant political habit, especially when it might be accurate simply to label him "mistaken." Given his age, I could wonder whether he had cataracts or a hearing problem or difficulties with his memory, all of which might have made it difficult for him to assess the situation in California accurately, and all of which are possible (though not inevitable) for a man who was then in his late seventies

[struggle4progress]

18. Where the Turpins used to live

January 17, 2018

... The Turpins lived in Rio Vista from around 1999 to 2010 when they relocated to California ...

'She never allowed her children to go outside and play. They homeschooled every one of them and one day they just up and left,' the woman said.

She described the Turpins as hoarders and said they left everything when the suddenly moved. They had so many belongings in the home it was difficult to walk around ...

https://kaplanherald.com/2018/01/17/horror-texas-houses-the-place-turpin-couple-used-to-dwell/

[struggle4progress]

20. House had not been inspected

by SUMIKO MOOTS and CORKY SIEMASZKO
JAN 17 2018, 8:20 PM ET

... The tan stucco house .. was required to have annual fire inspections because David Allen Turpin had gotten state approval to run a private school .. the site and he was listed as the principal.

... when The Associated Press asked for the inspection records, Perris Assistant City Clerk Judy Haughney said there weren't any. And city Fire Marshal Dave Martinez did not return a call from NBC ...

No state agency regulates or oversees private schools in California, but they are subject to an annual inspection by the state or local fire marshal.

"We are sickened by this tragedy and relieved the children are now safe and authorities are investigating," the California Board of Education said in a statement. "Private schools are required to register with the state to record their students' exemption from compulsory attendance at public schools. Under current California law, the CDE does not approve, monitor, inspect, or oversee private schools, but we will gladly work to make changes in the law that would prevent this type of tragedy from occurring in the future" ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-torture-house-where-13-staving-kids-found-had-not-n838546

[struggle4progress]

22. Childhood friend of three eldest siblings

... Ashely Vinyard, 25, lived across the street .. when the family was living in .. Rio Vista ...

'They really didn't talk about their parents or family like a lot of other kids do. Every time I innocently asked them about their parents they would sort of shut down' ...

'I only went into their house on a couple of occasions - you had to enter through the back door. I remember there were animal cages and newspapers strewn about on the floor, piles with feces on it. They had dogs, cats and goats' ...

'I never went into the kids bedrooms to play, I only got as far as the dining room and kitchen area. Oddly, I remember not seeing any sign of food in the house or any dishes in the sink' ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5284947/Friend-Turpin-kids-says-family-left-kitten-dumpster.html

[Voltaire2]

23. Hmmmm. .... this op seems to have triggered

an odd reaction. It is almost like somebody wants to flood the topic with mostly irrelevant information in order to deflect away from the relevant topic here: religion based grotesque abuse of children in isolated home schooled families.

[MineralMan]

24. Yes, I noticed that, but ignored it.

It was obvious in its attempt, so I thought I'd just let it be.

[struggle4progress]

25. Various agencies, that could have taken action, in both Texas and California,

say nobody contacted them (#12, #14). Family (#16) and neighbors (#13, #15, #22) can recite warning signs but didn't report. A substantial fraction of child abuse cases involve home-schooled children (#21). The California Board of Education suggests that it would be appropriate to change state law so that home-schooled children are regularly seen by a mandatory reporter (#20).

When you describe this information as "an odd reaction" and "mostly irrelevant," I wonder if you have any interest in possible political responses or whether you are just trolling this political board

[Voltaire2]

27. Yes I see your point. The problem isnt religious zealots

committing grotesque child abuse, it is the government.

[struggle4progress]

28. I still think you're trolling for a reaction. The political question is what can be done;

and I have posted in this thread the suggestion of the California Board of Education, which (as I understand it) is to look for ways to ensure that home-schooled children make some regular contact with a mandatory reporter

It might, of course, be much more satisfactory if more people took some interest, from time to time, in the welfare of those they encountered, but this seems to be an enduring problem

[MineralMan]

29. And yet, once the authorities were made aware, action

was swiftly taken by government, in the form of police. The parents are charged, their children are in safe places, and a trial will be scheduled.

[struggle4progress]

31. Yes. Some of us noticed that several days ago

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210107294#post10

[MineralMan]

32. Yes. This thread also started several days ago.

You have been participating in it.

I'm not taking your point.

[MineralMan]

33. So, what role do you think the parents' religious beliefs

had on their treatment of those children. That is the topic of this thread. Your posts, so far, have not addressed that at all, but appear to be pointing in other directions to derail the conversation.

I look forward to your response to this topic.

[struggle4progress]

34. ... Police said there was no initial indication of sexual abuse, but cautioned

that the investigation was still going on. Nor was there any indication that either suspect suffered from mental illness, Perris police chief Greg Fellows said, or that the children’s ordeal was linked to the family’s religious beliefs ...
http://www.herald.co.zw/california-couple-who-held-13-children-captive-due-in-court/

The assertion about sexual abuse may need revision, based on later reports:

... A charge was also filed against father David Allen Turpin of one count of a lewd act on a child by force, fear or duress, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin announced at a morning press conference ...
http://abc11.com/couple-pleads-not-guilty-in-case-of-13-captive-siblings/2967665/

I have no real grounds for offering any assessment of the underlying psychology of the two parents here. People's claimed philosophical or religious views are difficult to interpret, since people often construct justifications of their own behavior, so very similar words from different people may mean quite different things

So far as I know, the parents have not (to date) claimed any religious motive, though of course it's possible they might in the future. But if they do, hardly anyone, religious or not, will be sympathetic to the excuse. And I don't really see how we would get any practical idea about how to prevent such tragedies, even if the parents did try to argue that their behavior was justified by their religion

It's a strange story about strange people. When they left their Rio Vista TX property after foreclosure, for example, they left dogs in the house and a brand-new pickup truck, according to a story Tuesday in the NY Post

[MineralMan]

35. All that says is that the parents deny any religious motivation.

I don't trust them one bit. There are any number of stories about childhood abuse connected with Pentecostal churches. If you read some of those, you'll see connections to the horror these children went through.

Just Google Pentecostal child abuse and you'll find plenty of fodder for thinking about this.

Something led those people to do what they did. Perhaps we'll learn more about it, but in my reading, the parallels drawn by others who have escaped from abusive families with Pentecostal religious links are stunning.

Go read something, please.

[struggle4progress]

37. "Go read something, please" seems nothing but more trolling for a reaction

... for parents to engage in such torture of their own children is highly uncommon and hard to hide, experts say.

"This is actually very, very rare," said clinical forensic psychologist John Huber ...

Huber and other experts stressed they can’t diagnose Louise and David Turpin because they haven’t examined them, but can offer behavioral analyses ...

"They’re psychopaths," he said ...

https://kaplanherald.com/2018/01/18/perris-household-torture-case-consultants-weigh-in-on-why-mother-and-father-might-have-finished-it/

[MineralMan]

41. So, your reaction is imply that I'm a troll.

Goodbye.

[Mariana]

38. Why would they claim any motive?

They don't think they've done anything wrong.

[struggle4progress]

42. I don't know them, and I claim no insight into their lives

[Mariana]

46. A quote from one of the links you provided:

"It seemed that the mother was perplexed as to why we were at that residence," Fellows said.

[struggle4progress]

47. I still don't know them and still claim no insight into their lives

It could, of course, also be the case that the Turpins have little insight into their own lives

[trotsky]

36. Lots of invisible posts for me.

I guess that explains it.

[struggle4progress]

39. ... The children are numbered. It would seem that the numbering is in order of age.

The little girl at the front wears a 12, the taller girls behind her are 3 and 5. They all wear the name "Thing" ("Thing 12", "Thing 3", "Thing 5" ) perhaps in reference to a Dr Seuss book about two characters called Thing 1 and Thing 2. Here is a family that thinks it’s a joke to number everyone rather than give them names and refer to them as "things" ...

Large families do tend either to be chaotic or to develop formal, often ritualistic, processes to manage day to day activities. Is it possible that, as the Turpins' finances cycled ever more out of control, they became increasingly coercive in their attempts to handle the situation they had created for themselves?

The world the Turpins created for their family had so little contact with others – Louise didn't work, David was apparently not sociable and the children were home-schooled – that they may have considered their actions normal. Protecting their children from prying eyes became a way of life. They may have thought that what they were doing was right. But as time went on, they might have become more desperate and only able to control their offspring with threats and chains ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/turpin-family-parents-why-do-it-children-perris-california-captives-psychology-motive-a8162136.html

[MineralMan]

40. Yeah, I'll tell you what: What they did was so far from normal child-rearing

that there is no soft-peddling it. There are no justifications possible. I'm not trying understand them. I want to try to find a way to discover such families far earlier than currently happens. There is serious pathology in evidence. It should have been detected long ago. Some of those children will never recover enough to lead normal lives. The eldest is 29 years old, and doesn't even look like she went through puberty. Starvation will have that effect.

Whatever they thought was pathologically wrong.

[struggle4progress]

43. I expect that view will be widespread

[MineralMan]

44. The more I research this the more it looks like a

Quiverfull/Patriarchal family situation. Very large, homeschooled families with very strict disciplinary practices are typical of such families, I'm learning. While that movement has its roots in religion, with people like Dobson and others leading the way, a lot of such families are unchurched, and act as a family church, with the father as leader.

All of the families I've read about are fearful of the outside world, and dedicated to raising their children to be obedient and non-aggressive. Girls are treated very differently from boys, which is not surprising, considering the patriarchal rule of the typical family.

A number of adults who have been raised in such families are writing about their experiences. A Google search for Quiverfull patriarchal will locate a number of sites where adult children of such families are revealing how they grew up.

This family in California fits the formula to a "T," but with even more severe control and disciplinary features.

Do the search and read some accounts. It's striking.

The blog below is very informative, and pretty well written by an adult survivor. It's a touch hard to navigate, requiring two clicks to read the actual articles:

https://becomingworldly.wordpress.com/2017/12/

[MineralMan]

45. Another productive Google search related to this story:

https://www.google.com/search?q=quiverfull+horror+stories

I'm finding some very interesting accounts.

[struggle4progress]

48. Siblings reveal she was kidnapped

By Martin Gould In Hixson, Tennessee
PUBLISHED: 13:40 EST, 19 January 2018 | UPDATED: 15:07 EST, 19 January 2018

... 'My mom allowed Louise to date David secretly because she loved him and he was from a Christian family and she trusted Louise,' said Teresa.

'But she was doing it behind my dad's back — he wasn't aware that they were dating — and then one day, David went into the high school and they let him sign Louise out of school and they ran away. He had his car and they drove ... all the way to Texas before the police stopped them.'

Cops made 16-year-old Louise call home ...

'What was crazy was that .. my .. dad ... let her marry him. They .. had a small intimate church wedding ... Then they went back to Texas to start their lives together' ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5289527/David-Louise-Turpin-eloped-16.html

[struggle4progress]

49. She wanted 14th child

MEGAN CERULLO
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, January 19, 2018, 6:55 PM

... Louise Turpin’s brother-in-law, Billy Lambert, claims that when he last spoke to Turpin, on Jan. 10, she said she wanted to add another kid ...

Turpin’s sister, Teresa Robinette, told the Daily Mail .. they last spoke on Halloween. She added that Turpin regularly shared photos of their youngest child, who appeared to be well-nourished, but not of her other children ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-tortured-13-kids-allegedly-wanted-article-1.3767000

[struggle4progress]

53. ... Louise Turpins half-brother Billy Lambert ... claimed Mrs Turpin dreamed of making millions

by starring in a reality show about her large family. Mr Lambert said: “She used to say how they would be perfect for TV and would often mention they would be bigger than the reality show Kate Plus 8 ...

Turpin parents wanted to become 'reality TV stars with 14th child to solve money problems'
By TARYN TARRANT-CORNISH
PUBLISHED: 03:30, Sun, Jan 21, 2018 | UPDATED: 12:11, Sun, Jan 21, 2018

[struggle4progress]

50. Texas neighbors suspected Turpins

Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Paloma Esquivel

... suspicions about how David and Louise Turpin treated their eight children grew as .. years passed. The family rarely left the .. home ... They kept lights on at all hours, blinds drawn. One Christmas they bought eight new children’s bicycles that sat outside, unused, until they became sun bleached ...

... David Turpin would stand in the driveway shooting cans with his pistol, aiming toward the road ...

Vinyard said he and his wife considered reporting the couple to Rio Vista authorities. But ... Vinyard and his wife decided not to alert authorities about suspected abuse.

"We .. didn’t want to have the repercussions with them" ...

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-na-perris-texas-20180120-story.html

[struggle4progress]

51. Lack of oversight of home schools

by PHIL HELSEL

... California only requires a private school affidavit to establish a "private school" ...

An affidavit simply lists the size of the school and the district, who the principal is, and that the private school authorities are responsible for initiating contact with local authorities about a business license, safety and fire standards and other matters ...

California is among 15 states that only require a private school affidavit or other form ...

... conditions allegedly found at the .. Perris, California, home has prompted California Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, to plan a bill that would provide a legislative solution ...

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-torture-house-case-exposes-lack-oversight-home-schools-n839281

[struggle4progress]

52. Turpin family dumped a live kitten in rubbish hen they moved

By Jay Akbar
19th January 2018, 9:09 am
Updated: 20th January 2018, 4:39 am

... Ashley Vineyard, 25, who lived across from the family when they lived in Rio Vista, Texas, says their home smelled like faeces and how they dumped their kitten in the rubbish when they moved to California ...

'They had a huge garbage dumpster at their house and we heard a baby kitten crying. We pulled a baby kitty from the dumpster and kept it."

Chillingly, Ashley says they heard other "whimpering sounds" coming from the home but could not track down their source...

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5376581/turpin-family-house-of-horrors-case-home-texas-kitten-rubbish/

[struggle4progress]

54. Police may bring in dogs to search for bodies

Alina Polianskaya
2 hours ago

Detectives investigating the case of the 13 siblings found locked up in a house in California, may "send cadaver dogs" to see if there was anyone else in the house who may have died, reports have suggested.

Crime Watch Daily, a syndicated news show broadcast in multiple states across America, also reported that investigators were considering carrying out DNA tests on the Turpin children to check if they were all related, citing sources close to the case.

The Sheriff’s Department in Riverside County and the police department in the City of Perris, California did not respond to The Independent’s requests for comment ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/turpin-house-horrors-california-perris-children-captive-a8170641.html

[struggle4progress]

55. Experimented with sex, sibling says

BY CRISTINA MAZA ON 1/22/18 AT 3:24 PM

... Louise Turpin’s sister Teresa Robinette says she could no longer speak with her nieces and nephews on Skype around the same time her sister told her that the family had stopped going to church and started experimenting with different religions.

"She thought it was cool that they had quit going to church, and that they were — didn’t trust the church anymore — and they were experimenting with different religions," Robinette said in an interview on NBC ...

Robinette also said her sister told her the older children were busy taking care of the younger children so the two parents could "sow those wild oats," which they weren't able to do when they were young ...

Louise Turpin comes from a background of sexual abuse, Robinette said. Speaking of a male relative, she said, "He abused my mother and sexually abused my mother, and then me, Louise, Elizabeth, and a few of our cousins in the family.” Robinette added the sexual abuse was an ongoing secret in her family ...

http://www.newsweek.com/california-parents-who-tortured-their-children-were-involved-sex-and-religion-787290

[struggle4progress]

56. Eldest son looked 'famished' at college, wore the same clothing all semester

Brett Kelman, The Desert Sun
Published 11:29 a.m. PT Jan. 23, 2018
Updated 12:28 p.m. PT Jan. 23, 2018

... Angie Parra, a classmate at the Riverside County college, said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles that the introverted young man was "sweet but odd" and wore the same clothing all semester.

"I could see sadness in his face," Parra told the news station. "His eyes – he never wanted to make eye contact with anyone."

Parra also recalled how her "famished" classmate once scarfed down food at a school potluck.

"He stood by the table and didn’t sit down with a plate," Parra said in the NBC interview. "He literally ate plate after plate after plate" ...

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/crime_courts/2018/01/23/turpin-parents-eldest-son-looked-famished-college-wore-same-clothing-all-semester-report-says/1058656001/

[struggle4progress]

57. Days away from moving cross-country

NANCY DILLON
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, January 23, 2018, 7:34 PM

... Accused abusers David and Louise Turpin appeared on the verge of relocating their large brood to Oklahoma when cops arrived on the doorstep of their tract home in Perris and arrested them Jan. 14, multiple sources told ABC News.

The move looked like it was set to go down "within days."

"There were boxes in the house consistent with moving — concentrated in hallways, entryway and bedrooms," an unidentified source told ABC News.

David, 57, had received a reported transfer through his employer, the defense contractor Northrop Grumann ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/california-house-horrors-kids-days-moving-article-1.3775135

[struggle4progress]

58. This story has not become clearer with time

Current reports suggest the husband still works in aerospace and was expecting a transfer to Oklahoma soon. There are a few reports about the kids receiving education outside the home in the distant past, including one of the girls when in third grade and an older boy in community college: their behavior was reportedly strange. Some of the wife's family seem to have their own strange tales about sexual abuse growing up, or about how the husband checked the wife out of her high school when she was 16 and drove with her to TX from WV before returning with her to get married in WV (with her father's permission) and then going back to TX. There are reports that the husband and wife had an open marriage, that police are considering DNA testing of the children, and that investigators are considering searching former residences with cadaver dogs. It has been claimed that the wife wanted a large family in hopes of landing a reality TV show

Of course, if a number of children were not the husband's, that could account psychologically for some of his indifference to their plight; and if the pair actually murdered one or more children, that could explain why the adult children were not allowed to leave the home

But it's difficult to assess the accuracy of many of these reports and therefore hazarding a guess about actual causes may not be warranted

[Dorian Gray]

59. This is the first

that I've read of their religion. Crazy cakes.

Poor kids. They're going to have to go through a lot of healing. And it's a miracle not one of them died during that abusive treatment.

[struggle4progress]

60. Judge bans parents from contacting alleged victims until 2021

By MATT GUTMAN
ROBERT ZEPEDAALYSSA
PONEEMILY SHAPIRO
Jan 24, 2018, 5:11 PM ET

... parents accused of holding their 13 children captive have been banned from any contact with their alleged victims until 2021, a judge ruled this afternoon ...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/prosecutors-parents-accused-torturing-children-contacting-victims/story?id=52575913