Son forgives as parents jailed for life
A California couple were handed life sentences Friday after admitting to imprisoning and torturing 12 of their 13 children in a grisly "House of Horrors" case that shocked the world.
David Allen Turpin, 57, and his wife Louise Anna Turpin, 50, had pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts -- including cruelty, false imprisonment, child abuse and torture of their children aged three to 30 -- and will serve at least 25 years before they are eligible for parole.
In an emotionally wrenching hearing, several of the children professed continued love for their parents, who lived in the city of Perris, 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The case came to light last year when one of the children, aged 17, escaped through a window from the couple's home and called the emergency services.
Both Turpins fought back tears throughout the hearing, with Louise visually trembling as two of her own children came into court.
"My parents took my whole life from me, but now I'm taking my life back," one of the couple's daughters said, while a son said he still loved his parents and had forgiven them.
According to excerpts of the initial emergency call released during court proceedings, the escaped girl told the dispatcher two of her siblings were chained to beds so tightly that their skin was bruised.
She told responding officers that the house was so dirty she couldn't breathe and that she and her siblings never took baths. An officer who interviewed the teen said she was so emaciated that he first thought she was a child.
He said the girl described being forced to sleep 20 hours a day and in the middle of the night eating a combination of lunch and dinner that most often consisted of peanut butter sandwiches, chips and microwaved food.
One of the older children also told investigators that the couple would lock him and his siblings in cages as punishment and beat them with paddles.
The Turpins moved from Texas to California in 2010. Investigators have said it is unclear what prompted the abuse.
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