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Couple held after 13 children found shackled


Still Waters

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A couple have been arrested for allegedly keeping their 13 children captive in their California home, chained to their beds with padlocks.

Neighbours in Perris near Los Angeles said they were stunned by the arrests of David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, who have been held on charges of torture and child endangerment.

Police said their children – aged between 2 and 29 – were found so malnourished they believed they were all children, even though seven of them are adults.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/couple-held-13-children-found-chained-beds-california-home-090244811.html

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I saw this earlier on the news tonight. It's disturbing to say the least. Those poor children. Goodness only knows what will emerge from this after the story begins to unfold.  

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I bet the dad is a found to be a Psychopathic control freak within that household. It is just so hard to image this happens in this modern world of technology, yet his children are treated like something out of a 14th century dungeon.

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It seems like there's a new horror story each day now. You wonder how and why people do such things, especially to their own children. You also wonder why other people don't notice these situations. There often are many red flags. One red flag, in this case, is the height and the weight of the children. The dad is much larger than the adult children too. This probably proves that the size difference is linked to bad nutrition, not genetics. The matching outfits are very bizarre too.

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I was reading an article's comments and a few people blamed "homeschooling." Blame the parents. Not the education. 

Edited by Princess Serenity
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Just now, Princess Serenity said:

I was reading an article's comments and a few people blamed "homeschooling." Blame the parents. Not the education. 

Yeah, both my sister's homeschooled and my youngest was homeschooled because of "cultural conflicts".

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36 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

It seems like there's a new horror story each day now. You wonder how and why people do such things, especially to their own children. You also wonder why other people don't notice these situations. There often are many red flags. One red flag, in this case, is the height and the weight of the children. The dad is much larger than the adult children too. This probably proves that the size difference is linked to bad nutrition, not genetics. The matching outfits are very bizarre too.

Yeah, I think there can be a lot of apathy in regards to neighbours not wanting to get involved when they suspect something might be off. I mean, to have that many young children in the house (apart from the adult ones) I would have thought it extremely strange why these young kids were so quite. It's normal for children to be noisy, especially being so many of them. Surely some neighbours must have noticed this, and thought it odd that they were never seen playing in their yard like normal children do.

Apart from them being malnourished they also lacked in getting plenty of sunshine and fresh air that helps by enabling normal growth. Because of these few factors, their normal physical growth (not to mention their emotional) was obviously stunted. These poor kids (including the older ones) will have to be emotionally and psychologically reprogrammed. It's all terribly sad. But at least they are now out of their nightmare and are away from their monsters. Hopefully in the future they can start to lead normal lives. For the older ones, I would imagine they will have a very, very long way to go before ever healing properly. I also hope that the children wont be all separated due to the system. I can't help but wonder in whether there are other relatives, who had no idea of what was going on, and who can help by keeping these children together. 

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14 hours ago, Paranormal Panther said:

It seems like there's a new horror story each day now. You wonder how and why people do such things, especially to their own children. You also wonder why other people don't notice these situations. There often are many red flags. One red flag, in this case, is the height and the weight of the children. The dad is much larger than the adult children too. This probably proves that the size difference is linked to bad nutrition, not genetics. The matching outfits are very bizarre too.

There is talk about a "religion" aspect to this.

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22 hours ago, Astra. said:

Yeah, I think there can be a lot of apathy in regards to neighbours not wanting to get involved when they suspect something might be off. I mean, to have that many young children in the house (apart from the adult ones) I would have thought it extremely strange why these young kids were so quite. It's normal for children to be noisy, especially being so many of them. Surely some neighbours must have noticed this, and thought it odd that they were never seen playing in their yard like normal children do.

Apart from them being malnourished they also lacked in getting plenty of sunshine and fresh air that helps by enabling normal growth. Because of these few factors, their normal physical growth (not to mention their emotional) was obviously stunted. These poor kids (including the older ones) will have to be emotionally and psychologically reprogrammed. It's all terribly sad. But at least they are now out of their nightmare and are away from their monsters. Hopefully in the future they can start to lead normal lives. For the older ones, I would imagine they will have a very, very long way to go before ever healing properly. I also hope that the children wont be all separated due to the system. I can't help but wonder in whether there are other relatives, who had no idea of what was going on, and who can help by keeping these children together. 

I reads some articles in which their relatives were interviewed. The aunt and the grandparents were kept from the kids. They tried to contact them, but they were thwarted. They evidently didn't know about the severity of the situation. The grandparents flew out to meet them once. They still were kept from a visit after they arrived. They likely thought that they were shunned and snubbed. That was where my mind would go in that situation.

You're right about the kids' problems. Their bodies and minds are not where they should be. They said that the oldest sibling, who is almost 30, could pass for a junior high school girl. As you likely knew, the girl who escaped was almost 18, and the cops first thought that she was 10. My guess is that one or more of them will be diagnosed as mentally disabled. The doctor, in charge of the exams, made it sound that way. The whole thing must be mortifying for all of the kids who are mature enough to realize their situation. I hope that their relatives let them stay together with them.

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8 hours ago, Gromdor said:

There is talk about a "religion" aspect to this.

They probably were fanatics of some kind. It's likely a perfect storm of factors, one of which is huge money problems.

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3 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

They probably were fanatics of some kind. It's likely a perfect storm of factors, one of which is huge money problems.

I don't know if it's a religous thing at all. I suspect it was finacial greed. Perhaps collecting social security for the adult children and child support for the younger ones. What is creepy is that there are no boy children, obviously it's possible to have only girls, but the odds have got to be up there.

And as a side note. The matching outfits shown in the stock photo appear to be wedding outfits. Possibly, bridesmaids or flower girls.

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1 minute ago, Kismit said:

I don't know if it's a religous thing at all. I suspect it was finacial greed. Perhaps collecting social security for the adult children and child support for the younger ones. What is creepy is that there are no boy children, obviously it's possible to have only girls, but the odds have got to be up there.

And as a side note. The matching outfits shown in the stock photo appear to be wedding outfits. Possibly, bridesmaids or flower girls.

They have three boys, but I agree that it's somewhat anomalous to have so many daughters in comparison to the number of sons. I read that the kids were forced to march in circles for one or more hours, and they were forced to recite long Bible verses. The dad filed for bankruptcy too, probably due to the fact that they were heavily in debt. As for the photos, the parents renewed their wedding vows three times.

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13 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

They have three boys, but I agree that it's somewhat anomalous to have so many daughters in comparison to the number of sons. I read that the kids were forced to march in circles for one or more hours, and they were forced to recite long Bible verses. The dad filed for bankruptcy too, probably due to the fact that they were heavily in debt. As for the photos, the parents renewed their wedding vows three times.

Just creepy all round

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6 minutes ago, Kismit said:

Just creepy all round

Never trust a grown man with a bowl haircut. The dad's barber should be charged with a crime against humanity.

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24 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

Never trust a grown man with a bowl haircut. The dad's barber should be charged with a crime against humanity.

The dad certainly should be.

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45 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

I reads some articles in which their relatives were interviewed. The aunt and the grandparents were kept from the kids. They tried to contact them, but they were thwarted. They evidently didn't know about the severity of the situation. The grandparents flew out to meet them once. They still were kept from a visit after they arrived. They likely thought that they were shunned and snubbed. That was where my mind would go in that situation.

You're right about the kids' problems. Their bodies and minds are not where they should be. They said that the oldest sibling, who is almost 30, could pass for a junior high school girl. As you likely knew, the girl who escaped was almost 18, and the cops first thought that she was 10. My guess is that one or more of them will be diagnosed as mentally disabled. The doctor, in charge of the exams, made it sound that way. The whole thing must be mortifying for all of the kids who are mature enough to realize their situation. I hope that their relatives let them stay together with them.

Oh gosh, yes it's all very bizarre indeed. It's fairly obvious that this weird couple did not want to let anyone (including other relatives) to know what was going on. I did see a female relative being interviewed last night on a current affairs show. She was absolutely appalled and angry that these children had been abused in this way. It seems that nobody had any idea of what was happening.

Apparently as well, the authorities touched on the 'possibility' of sexual abuse that may have taken place. They did not actually say this. But it's also something that will be obviously looked into as well.

It's difficult to get ones mind around such a thing as this. It seems that religion (or their kind of religion) played a part in this too. It was like their own secretive cult of sorts, where they used their own children to control and emotionally / psychologically abuse. It's sick.  

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I did see one report saying the mother was confused as to why the police were there or would be concerned. Maybe there is some mental deficiency on her part as well?

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22 hours ago, Kismit said:

The dad certainly should be.

The mom should be too. It took two to torture.

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22 hours ago, Astra. said:

Oh gosh, yes it's all very bizarre indeed. It's fairly obvious that this weird couple did not want to let anyone (including other relatives) to know what was going on. I did see a female relative being interviewed last night on a current affairs show. She was absolutely appalled and angry that these children had been abused in this way. It seems that nobody had any idea of what was happening.

Apparently as well, the authorities touched on the 'possibility' of sexual abuse that may have taken place. They did not actually say this. But it's also something that will be obviously looked into as well.

It's difficult to get ones mind around such a thing as this. It seems that religion (or their kind of religion) played a part in this too. It was like their own secretive cult of sorts, where they used their own children to control and emotionally / psychologically abuse. It's sick.  

A lot of new information came out today. I read the headlines of some news stories. One said that the kids took *yearly* showers! Their hand-washing was limited or restricted. They were like the opposite of an OCD family. You wonder what the inside of their house is like. I saw some pictures of it before they moved into it. I was shocked and stunned before I realized that it was a "before" photo because it was so clean and so neat.

I read an interview with the kids' aunt. She said that their dad watched her when she showered. Folks should remember that when they criticize and judge her for not visiting them more. Who can blame her? You wonder if the creep was like that with his daughters (or sons). It wouldn't surprise me. His Jimmy Saville haircut might fit him. Hopefully, they weren't sexually abusive. 

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There are no words. I just saw a news segment about the crimes. The "dad" was charged with the perpetration of a lewd act on a child. The "parents" restrained the kids with both chains and ropes, and some kids were hogtied. They ate cake and pie in front of their starved kids, whose meals were strictly rationed. There were boxes of toys that remained closed, which was emotional torture of the youngest kids. The kids were hooked to IV drips to save their lives. A normal person wouldn't treat their pet like this, let alone their kids, so punish the monsters accordingly.

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4 minutes ago, Paranormal Panther said:

There are no words. I just saw a news segment about the crimes. The "dad" was charged with the perpetration of a lewd act on a child. The "parents" restrained the kids with both chains and ropes, and some kids were hogtied. They ate cake and pie in front of their starved kids, whose meals were strictly rationed. There were boxes of toys that remained closed, which was emotional torture of the youngest kids. The kids were hooked to IV drips to save their lives. A normal person wouldn't treat their pet like this, let alone their kids, so punish the monsters accordingly.

Beaten to death with a 12 inch spanner I use to adjust the log turner. <_<

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2 minutes ago, Piney said:

Beaten to death with a 12 inch spanner I use to adjust the log turner. <_<

If the court doesn't, the inmates will. I just heard that they treated their dogs much better than they treated their kids.

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1 minute ago, Paranormal Panther said:

If the court doesn't, the inmates will.

I know they will. I participated in such "fun and games".

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