Turpin case: California couple deny torturing 'shackled siblings'

The parents accused of holding their thirteen kids in shackles at a california domestic have pleaded no longer responsible.

David turpin, 56, and louise turpin, forty nine, are dealing with costs of torture, abuse and fake imprisonment.

They have been arrested after one daughter escaped from their domestic, where police later located some siblings chained to beds and critically malnourished.

The couple seemed in court hours after prosecutors unique the horrific abuse allegations against them.

Riverside county district legal professional mike hestrin stated the couple had allegedly punished their children by using tying them up - first the use of ropes and later chaining them to their beds with padlocks.

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He said the alleged punishments would ultimate weeks or months, and intensified over the years.

The 'glad family' charged with torture
Prosecutors said circumstantial evidence confirmed the youngsters had been not released from their chains to go to the rest room.

The youngster who escaped and alerted police to the residence wherein her siblings had been held captive had been hatching a plan to leave for 2 years, mr hestrin added.

He special a number of the gruesome allegations towards the dad and mom at a news convention on thursday.

The stunning claims include:
The youngsters had been conversant in frequent beatings, inclusive of strangulation
They had been handiest allowed one shower a year
The children could stay unsleeping all night time till going to sleep at 4 or 5 inside the morning and slept all through the day
They had been no longer allowed to play with any toys however many have been located inside the residence of their original packaging
If the youngsters washed their fingers above the wrist they have been subjected to punishments, allegedly accused of "gambling with water"
The turpin mother and father allowed their children to eat only one meal an afternoon however the dad and mom might sometimes buy meals, like pumpkin pies, and region it in which the kids could see it however now not eat it
They've by no means visible a dentist and haven't visited a doctor in over four years
The children lack fundamental information of life, and did now not recognise who a police officer became


Media captionshackled siblings: what we realize approximately their lives
A grievous betrayal
James prepare dinner, bbc news, riverside, california

This case has despatched waves of revulsion throughout the us and beyond, and the small courtroom changed into packed as the defendants seemed.

David and louise turpin were neatly dressed. They sometimes glanced at every different throughout a desk weighed down by means of a duplicate of the california penal code and a sheaf of paper related to the case against them. A attorney sat among them.

Mr turpin, with a special mop of grey hair, turned into chained around the waist, his stomach protruding from under the metallic hyperlinks. His wife's mouth become turned down in a glum expression.

The couple spoke simplest briefly and softly to confirm that they understood and generic procedural details relating to their subsequent hearing.

The expenses they deny are a few of the most serious any parent should face: amounting to a grievous betrayal in their own youngsters, a betrayal which prosecutors allege went on for years, if now not many years.

The siblings themselves are stated to be doing well but at the least some of them have almost simply suffered irreparable harm, each bodily and intellectual from their ordeal.

The children, who're elderly between  and 29 , have been treated in medical institution on account that being freed on monday.

The two-yr-vintage turned into of ordinary weight however the different youngsters have been significantly malnourished, government said.

The 12-yr-vintage weighed as an awful lot as an average seven-year-vintage and the 29-12 months-antique weighed handiest 82lb (37kg).

Numerous of the kids have cognitive impairment and "neuropathy, which is nerve harm, due to this severe and prolonged physical abuse", mr hestrin said.

Riverside county district attorney mike hestrin broadcasts costs against david turpin, 56, and louise turpin, 49, in riverside, california u.S. January 18, 2018.Picture copyrightreuters
Photograph caption
District attorney mike hestrin said the couple chained their youngsters as a form of punishment
Though little is known approximately their training, some of the youngsters were capable of study and write. Mr turpin also registered a non-public school of their california home, called sandcastle day college.

Police have received hundreds of journals that the kids had been allowed to put in writing in and are looking through them for proof.

Before moving to california, the own family lived in texas.

At one factor, the parents allegedly lived in a unique residence from their kids and could drop off meals on occasion, officers said.

If located responsible of the dozens of expenses in opposition to them, the couple face ninety four years to life in prison, mr hestrin introduced.

Mr turpin also faces one count of "lewd act on a toddler under 14 years of age".

Can everyone open a school at home in california?

The 13 children have been located in an emaciated nation of their filthy, foul-smelling residence, police discovered earlier. Officers had at the beginning idea all of the youngsters have been minors however later realised some were frail and malnourished adults, they said.

Mr hestrin said that after officials arrived, 3 of the couple's kids had been chained to their beds.

The prices against david and louise turpin:
12 counts of torture
1 matter in opposition to david turpin of a lewd act on a child
7 counts of abuse in opposition to a structured adult
6 counts of baby abuse/overlook
12 counts of false imprisonment