Turpin sisters describe living in 'house of horrors': 'I thought I was going to die'

Table Of Content

• Turpin children still 'living in squalor' 4 years after 'house of horrors' rescue, despite donations
• Turpin siblings speak out in 1st interview about 'house of horrors'
• MORE: Turpin children speak out as parents are sentenced in torture case: 'I'm taking my life back'
• El Camino Real Charter High School wins national Academic Decathlon

The 17-year-old had only been outside a few times in her entire life and she was terrified. Her hands were shaking uncontrollably as she held a deactivated cell phone her parents didn’t know she had, but thinking of her siblings chained up inside the house, she worked up the courage to dial 911. It was a dire warning to their kids that set the abused children's escape plan into motion, authorities say. "David and Louise agreed that they were just going to chain all the kids up once they got to the new house in Oklahoma and they were about to move in the next few days," Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham tells PEOPLE. As the adult children struggled under county guardianship, some of their seven younger siblings faced new hardships in the foster care system and the California-based agency contracted to run it by the county.

Turpin children still 'living in squalor' 4 years after 'house of horrors' rescue, despite donations

“I would try to stretch it out and make sure that we at least had stuff to eat each day of the week,” she said. Their new house eventually became filthy, Jennifer Turpin said, covered in mold, dirt and trash. The mother she used to adore started having violent mood swings when she was still very little, she said. Watch the Diane Sawyer special event, "Escape From A House Of Horror," on Friday, Nov. 19 at 9 p.m.

Turpin siblings speak out in 1st interview about 'house of horrors'

Both Jordan and Jennifer Turpin declined to discuss their other siblings, wanting to protect their privacy and making it clear they were only sharing their own experiences. They shared that the siblings see each other often and relish these moments. After being in the hospital, Jordan said the first place she went to was a park with two of her sisters.

MORE: Turpin children speak out as parents are sentenced in torture case: 'I'm taking my life back'

As part of the probe, an outside law firm "will be seeking" to interview the Turpin children, the office also said. Current employees will be "directed to participate in this investigation," but not required. "Did we see kids having to not have a safe place to live or stay at times? Yes. Did they have enough food at times? They did not," Donaldson said. "They had to go to churches and eat because they didn't know how to manage money … and some without housing at times."

MORE: House where 12 children allegedly tortured by parents sells for $310,000

Most of the funds have gone into a trust that is controlled by a court-appointed public guardian, but details about the guardian -- and the money -- are hard to come by. After their rescue, some of the younger siblings spent years in foster homes where there were accusations of child abuse -- including an accusation that at least one of the Turpins was a victim of such abuse, for which charges have been filed. Two of the older children have at times had to resort to "couch-surfing," one advocate said, and, in at least one case, another was assaulted. In February 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts, including torture, false imprisonment and child cruelty.

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MORE: Turpin sisters describe the moment they knew they were free

Jordan Turpin's daring escape from her parent's "house of horror" has been revealed in never-before-seen bodycam footage. The Turpin parents managed to hide their abuse for years by having the family sleep during the day and awake at night. Both parents worked in their home and set up their property as a private K-12 school with the California Department of Education. Prosecutors said the deal would likely keep them in prison for the rest of their lives and spare the children from testifying. Police rushed all 13 children to the hospital, where they were treated, given clean clothes, rooms and food. The first thing Jordan said she ate was macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.

El Camino Real Charter High School wins national Academic Decathlon

David and Louise found other ways to use food and gifts to torture their children. Sometimes they would leave pies out in front of the kids, but tell them they couldn’t have any or even touch the desserts. They also filled their home with unopened gifts at Christmas, never letting their children enjoy anything they brought into the home. Children said they were beaten, caged and shackled to beds if they didn't obey their parents. Investigators found that the toddler had not been abused, but all of the children were hospitalized after they were discovered. The couple pleaded guilty in Riverside County Superior Court in February to torture and other abuse and neglect so severe it stunted their children's growth, led to muscle wasting and left two of the girls unable to bear children.

Repeated abuse

"When the case first broke, I obviously got thousands of offers of help ... dentists, and doctors, and people saying, 'I will serve these kids pro bono. Please send them my way,'" she said. Nearly four years later, and with nearly all media coverage gone, the order sealing almost every record in the case remains in place, effectively blocking any scrutiny from the public. In late 2018, Judge Thomas Cahraman, overseeing the conservatorships, expressed concerns that the sealing order was "too broad" -- but he ruled to keep it in place. At first, he was not sure what to make of it, but when he saw Jordan's photos of her dirty, shackled sisters he said it "really sealed the deal for me". "Over this last year, I have learned a lot about mental health and everything. It was a really rough year," Turpin said.

Five Turpin children remained in that home for three years while the alleged abuse took place. A lawyer for one of those family members said, "The family are devastated by these charges. At this point, we do not know the basis for these charges, and my client is denying these charges are true." Reports detailing the children's well-being, records accounting for the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by strangers, and other documents in the court filing remain sealed.

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Prosecutors said the punishment ranged from being beaten and choked to being shackled to their beds with no access to the bathroom for months at a time. "We are confident, given what they've been through and how resilient they are, that they're going to be really successful," said Jack Osborn, a court-appointed attorney for the seven adult children, after their parents' sentencing in 2019. The five children had even been adopted by that family in October 2019, the same time-period in which the alleged abuse was occurring. ChildNet declined to provide details about the vetting of the family, citing confidentiality laws. Recent court filings show the court-appointed public guardian failed to file the annual accounting for the trust, leaving the family's finances opaque.

Unfortunately for the Turpin children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29, those promises have fallen flat. On 14 January 2018, she realised time was running out when she heard her mother scream that the family were moving to Oklahoma. "[I told her] get pictures, anything to prove so they can't think you're a teenager looking for attention," Jennifer said, appearing alongside her sister on ABC's Escape from a House of Horror - A Diane Sawyer Special Event on Friday. In 2016, Jordan said she got hold of one of her parents' old smartphones, which opened up a whole new world when she eventually discovered Justin Bieber videos. They only ate once a day, usually peanut butter sandwiches, bologna or a frozen burrito and chips, while their parents taunted them with fast food.

Just four days after ABC News requested from the court an explanation for the sealing order, Judge Cahraman unsealed a few of the filings partially explaining the secrecy in the case. The newly available documents shed no light on the Turpins' care or lives since they were rescued, but the unsealing did mark a first for the case. The Turpins' case remains shrouded in secrecy -- obscured from public view through sealed court records and a conservatorship, the same arrangement that recently ended for pop star Britney Spears. All 13 children were rushed to the hospital, where they were treated, given clean clothes, rooms and food. Now 21, Jordan and her sister Jennifer, 33, have spoken out about the horrific abuse they endured at the hands of David and Louise Turpin - who are now in prison for beating, shackling, and starving their children.

In the complaints, they allege not only that the foster family had a prior history of abusing children, but also that the organizations were aware of that history — and failed to act even after the children asked for help. After a Nov. 9 meeting of the county's Board of Supervisors, Chairwoman Karen Spiegel, the county's top elected official, declined to discuss specifics about what has transpired with the Turpin children since they were rescued. "Have there been other issues that have come to light in the many foster care homes in which the minor Turpin children have been placed?" Scott asked Donaldson. "They had to go to churches and eat because they didn't know how to manage money ... and some without housing at times." "They have been victimized again by the system," Mike Hestrin, the Riverside County district attorney, told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in an interview for the 20/20 special event, "Escape From A House Of Horror." The interview featured newly-released bodycam footage showing Jordan after she had fled her parent's house, which became known as the "house of horror".

Growing up, Jennifer Turpin attended public school from first to third grade but then her parents took her out. From then on, the parents claimed to be homeschooling their children but weren’t in reality. The children were rarely allowed to leave their home when the family lived in Texas and then in California, they said they were never allowed outside without their parents. The children spent most of their time in the house but would occasionally take family trips, including one where they went to Las Vegas for their parents' vow renewal. Two of the Turpin sisters, who along with their 11 siblings were held captive for years before escaping in 2018, are speaking out for the first time about the abuse they endured.

State law mandates confidentiality on all juvenile court proceedings, effectively shielding the records of the minor Turpin children. But in the probate court overseeing the adult Turpin children's cases, a blanket sealing order has been issued as well-- an unusual move enacted right after the children were rescued in order to protect them from the onslaught of media coverage. Both David and Louise were charged with multiple counts of torture, false imprisonment and child abuse. Jordan and her 13-year-old sister escaped the house together by crawling out a window in January 2018, but the younger girl went back home after she got scared. Jordan, who had spent two years devising the plan with some of her siblings, carried her older brother's deactivated cellphone and called 911. The children were not the only beings in the home who were subjected to their parent’s cruel treatment.