Prosecutors have said all 13 of the siblings were abused and most of them were held captive and tortured in their suburban Perris, California, home. The childrenranged in age from 2 to 29when their parents,David and Louise Turpin, were arrested in January.
At Wednesday’s preliminary hearingfor the Turpin parents, investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office who spoke with doctors treating the siblings at area hospitals painted a disturbing portrait of the debilitating long-term effects of the alleged abuse.
One of the adult female children was 35 lbs. underweight and suffered from “severe protein caloric malnutrition, numbness and weakness in extremities,” as well as “severe skeletal abnormalities,” investigator Wade Walsvick testified, based on his conversation with a doctor in the Corona Regional Medical Center who treated all seven adult siblings.
Like other siblings, the adult woman suffered from “low cognition and cachexia, a muscle-wasting syndrome,” Walsvick said.
The woman also had “severe skeletal abnormalities,” he testified.
David-Louis Turpin/Facebook
Morris said on the stand that she was so skinny, her mid-upper arm “was equivalent to a 4½-month-old.”
He added that the girl had liver damage due to malnutrition and had “social dwarfism — a stunted growth damage due to malnutrition.”
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Walsvick testified that two adult siblings — one male and one female — “shuffled as they walked” and were prone to bone fractures.
Various adult siblings were 47, 39, 35 and 20 lbs. underweight, respectively.
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David and Louise Turpin eachface 12 counts of tortureas well as seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, nine counts of child abuse or neglect and 12 counts of false imprisonment.
David is additionally accused of a lewd act against a child and perjury,for allegedly lying about his children’s schooling. Louise has also been charged with felony assault.
They remain in custody in lieu of $12 million bail each after pleading not guilty to all of their charges.
One of the Turpins’ attorneys has publicly noted that both are presumed innocent until convicted. Beyond that, the defense has not commented specifically on the case to PEOPLE.
source: people.com
