Exclusively available on ABC’s 20/20, never-before-seen footage of officers raiding a California house and saving the Turpin kids from the horrors at their home.
Perris police-worn body camera footage shows officers enter the house, confront the parents, David and Louise Turpin, and discover the children, at least two of whom were shackled to their beds.
“Sarge,” a video shows an officer saying on the camera, “We’ve got another bedroom in the front with two kids in bed,”
After Jordan Turpin (then 17), crawled through the window, and called 911, Jordan Turpin, who was then 22, escaped with their siblings.
Jordan stated that he ran from his home after escaping abuse parents and a 15-member family. “My little sister and I are now chained to our bed.
Two sisters of the family now speak out for the first-time about the torture they suffered and the imprisonment that led to their release.
In a special 20/20 interview, one Turpin sibling stated to Diane Sawyer that he only knew the word “hell” to describe it. The interview will air on ABC next Wednesday.
Video of officers from the police body camera shows them knocking at the Turpin family’s Perris house in January 2018. This happened just moments before the siblings were saved
The police have made available never before seen footage from the moment officers entered a California house and saved the Turpin family from the horrors of their home. Video footage of the raid shows that trash was everywhere and two children were tied to their beds.
Jordan Turpin told Diane Sawyer (pictured) that her mother used to choke her, and that she often thought she would go mad.
Jordan Turpin is hugged by Jordan Turpin’s sister Jordan, who isn’t identified.
Jordan shared the fear of her sister, Jordan. She said that she was afraid for Jordan’s life.
She said, “Mother, she choked and I literally thought my life was over,”
David and Louise repeatedly beat, starved and strangled the Turpin brothers. According to some, the filthy conditions of the house were so bad that it was believed to have been contaminated with human waste.
Sawyer interviewed one of the sisters who said that their children were often chained up for several months.
Parents’ neglect and abuse were so severe that it was pervasive. [and]It was so long that their children were not growing as they should have, it led to muscle loss and made two daughters incapable of having children.
Jordan, a victim of years of abuse, jumped out of the window of his filthy house and dialled 911 using a barely functional cellphone.
Diane Sawyer was contacted by two of the thirteen Turpin children, who had been tortured at their California “House of Horrors” parents.
After entering the house, officers confront Louise Turpin. The officers ask Louise Turpin: “How many kids do you have?”
Because the girl couldn’t find her address, she struggled for twenty minutes to figure it out. She had never been alone outside before.
Jordan explained to Sawyer why she called police.
It was literally “now or never”. If anything happened to me it was at least that I tried.
After David and Louise were arrested in January 2018, horrifying details about the abuse, neglect and torture that these children suffered began to surface.
Deputies attested that the children could only shower one time a year.
They were kept in their bedrooms except for dinners, which they ate a mixture of breakfast and dinner. Their diet was limited to two slices of bread, peanut butter or bologna for many years. Also, the couple was accused of making fun of their children’s inability to eat pies or other prohibited food.
Turpin children were not permitted to behave like other children, and they weren’t allowed toys or any games.
Louise Turpin (right), and David Turpin (left) pleaded guilty on 14 counts of abuse and torture in 2019. They were sentenced in 2019 to 25-years to life imprisonment. In 22 years, they are eligible for parole.
Louise Turpin and David Turpin are pictured together with their 13 children, before they were arrested for taking the children hostage.
Sawyer was told by an unidentified sister that her parents had taken my entire life, and now she is taking it back.
She said that her sister doesn’t wish to be remembered for being victims but fighters.
“I would like the Turpin name” [to be]They are strong. They aren’t broken. “They’ve got it,” she said.
Jordan, describing life post-rescue said: ‘It’s so free. This is life, like wow.
Sawyer also spoke with Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who was involved with the case. This is a story he won’t forget.
He said, “It was the thing that stopped me from moving.” “There are some cases that stay with you and that haunt you.
David and Louise pleaded guilty to 14 counts of torture and other abuse in 2019 and were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Both are eligible to be paroled in 22 years.
While the case of their parents was in court, the 13 siblings were kept out of the media. They learned how to live a normal life without the horrors.
An interview was conducted with People in January 2012. Kevin Beecham, Deputy District Attorney, was the one who tried to prosecute the Turpin case. He said that all the siblings were ‘happy.
Beecham said, “They are continuing to live their lives.”
That time, only one of the siblings had completed college and several other had either jobs or were attending school.
“Some are independent, live in their own apartments, have jobs, and go to school. Some volunteers are involved in the community. He shared that they go to church.
He pointed out that their siblings are often seen together.
He said, “They still meet together, all thirteen of them so they’ll find somewhere kind of discrete.”
You can watch the complete interview on 20/20, Escape from a House of Horror – A Diane Sawyer Special Event at ABC, Friday November 19, 9 pm EST, on ABC.