The story of the Turpin family at center of abuse allegations | NIGHTLINE l ABC News

Oh they appear to be portraits of one big happy family in pictures posted on Facebook David and Louise Turpin surrounded by their 13 children but behind the smiles and matching outfits the kids were not allowed to clean themselves a reality authorities say that is so disturbed extremely malnourished to the point where they have muscle wasting and cognitive damage it shocked the country it appears that it started being tied up with rope then they moved up to chains and padlocks now this mother and father are the ones in shackles accused of inflicting years of cruelty on their own flesh and blood this is off the charts sadistic charges of torture false imprisonment and child abuse allegedly happening inside the couple's home in the town of Paris California the alleged tour all hid it in plain sight but the family story started 2,300 miles away in the heart of Appalachia Princeton West Virginia where Louise and David grew up during the 70s and 80s full of emotion I'm angry I'm sad heartbroken confused as to how this happened Elizabeth Flores is Louise's younger sister so we had a pretty normal life inside the home that I lived in she says Louise was always a leader it was her way or no way and if she had a snake around to do it she would do it the younger sister says that she and others in the family were sexually abused and wonders whether the impact on the family might have been a contributing factor there was sexual abuse by a family member a close family member not our parents we were not allowed to talk about it and I'm not making excuses for my sister but I think that that may have been an underlining issue another constant in her life Elizabeth says was David Turpin who lived just a few miles away here he is in his high school yearbook from 1979 sporting that same Bowl haircut he has today he was quiet nerdy he was a good student he tended address well sometimes he would wear a bowtie Louise actually started dating him at 15 my dad didn't want her to because he was so much older eventually when Louise was only 16 and David was almost 23 the couple ran away together Elizabeth says police found them several days later in Texas Louise's parents decided not to pursue charges the couple then got married it was 1985 in 1986 the couple moved to Texas where David had a job by the 90s they were living at this house in Fort Worth where Elizabeth spent a summer during college living with them by then the terpenes already had four kids and Elizabeth says she noticed things were off I remember they were really strict on the oldest daughter like they wandering her room a lot and they would let her come down and eat meals I used to bother me because before she sat down she did get permission and I was felt like maybe I shouldn't pry maybe I shouldn't question her parenting it was almost like she didn't want me talking to the kids and they weren't allowed to talk to me without permission Elizabeth says Louise had come up with the type of hybrid religion but they didn't go to church she says David was very reserved and Louise made all the rules she always seemed to be in control that there was always looks between them and he was always sitting back watching I was told I couldn't make phone calls from their phone I wasn't allowed to have anybody over I wasn't allowed to tell anybody where I lived I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody or hang out with anybody and if I wanted to do those things I had to leave and find another place to go and Elizabeth says things got even creepier I get in the shower and I'd lock the door and Louise would unlock it with the co hang there and they would both come in there they wouldn't even talk about sorry they made me gather shower in front of them Elizabeth says Louise eventually found out she had talked to friends at work and kicked her out despite David's job the family's Fort Worth house was foreclosed on the scene they left behind documented by the new homeowner deplorable filth scratches on the backs of doors and walls which the new homeowner assumed came from animals by 2000 that terpenes had moved to this home on a sprawling 36 acres in the rural Texas town of Rio Vista actually even hard to find on the map neighbors were called sporadic sightings and strange behavior something's going on over there you know something's not right then in 2010 once again money problems apparently forced them out Billy Baldwin bought the terpenes home also in a foreclosure sale and says he also found a mess and some bizarre photographs pretty bad sight the Turpin family went west to California it's unclear why they moved to California they don't have any family out here perhaps it was for work you just don't know eventually they settled in Paris a small city located between Los Angeles and San Diego David registering his house as the Sandcastle day school with state authorities so his kids could be homeschooled a neighbor remembered seeing something odd one night God : anywhere from 12:30 to 3:00 in the morning the kids marching between those two rooms up there so they were marching thoroughly in the middle of the night back and forth from room to room looked like they're doing a Lube how long would they march back and forth for in single-file hours hours finally for the siblings living in what prosecutors said was hell a breaking point police say two of the kids were able to escape out of a window just after 6:00 a.m. on Sunday the younger child frightened turns back the 17 year old keeps going using a deactivated cell phone to call 911 she explained that her siblings were being held against their will and some chained deputies when they arrived inside the house they noticed that the children were malnourished it was a very dirty and the conditions were horrific what some are calling a house of horrors discovered in a California suburb the parents arrested at the scene the children authorities say were severely malnourished the oldest a 29 year old woman weighs just 82 pounds that sounds like sadistic torture it's all horrific it's hard to say what's more horrific in a case like this but you know you've got parents that are torturing their children causing them pain causing them suffering over a prolonged period of time through malnourishment through physical abuse through psychological abuse authorities say hidden behind a neatly manicured lawn in a cookie cutter house a veritable mountain of potential evidence when deputies found the 12 siblings what were the conditions that they encountered in that house conditions are absolutely deplorable there it's it smelled as filthy it's clear that some of the victims when they're chained are not being taken to the bathroom to relieve themselves investigators say the children were not allowed to play but they were allowed to keep journals my guess is that they're going to be that's going to be powerful evidence about what was happening from the perspective of the victims what was happening in that house in court yesterday David and Louise Turpin pleaded not guilty to a combined 75 total counts including charges of torture child abuse and false imprisonment investigators say only the two-year-old child appears to have escaped the abuse the couple is being held on 12 million dollars bail each Elizabeth says she hasn't seen the children in more than a decade she didn't know what was going on she says until she saw the news somebody posted the link on my facebook and said is this your sicko sister my initial response was oh my god oh my god and I broke down I knew my sister was different from us but I would have never ever imagined this ever and for the 13 siblings OOP investigators say have already so much the long arduous road to recovery still lies ahead stay with us hi everyone George Stephanopoulos here thanks for checking out the ABC News YouTube channel if you'd like to get more videos show highlights and watch live event coverage click on the right over here to subscribe to our 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Channel: ABC News

Views: 2,412,873

Keywords: California, David Turpin, Louise Anna Turpin, charges of torture and child endangerment, 13 siblings allegedly held captive, abc, abcnews

Id: c7WVDSNStsQ

Length: 8min 38sec (518 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 20 2018