A couple was arrested for keeping 13 victims, ranging from age 2 to 29, captive in their California home.
CNN reports that a 17-year-old girl escaped the Perris, California, residence on Sunday, January 14, and managed to call 911 from a cell phone she found in the house. She told authorities that her 12 brothers and sister were “being held captive inside the residence by her parents and further claimed some of her siblings were bound with chains and padlocks.”
The couple — David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49 — were charged on Sunday with torture and child endangerment, the publication adds. Their bail was set at $9 million each.
The Riverside Country Sheriff’s department report reads, “Further investigation revealed several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings, but the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were restrained in that manner. Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that 7 of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29. The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty.”
All 13 victims were transported to Perris Station for interviews, and the six children were later transported to the Riverside University Hospital System (RUHS) for medical examinations and admitted for treatment, according to CNN. The seven adults were transported to Corona Regional Medical Center for an examination and admitted for medical treatment.
