The Turpin children, whose tragic situation was discovered in 2018 when they escaped the so-called "House of Horrors" they grew up in, are back in the headlines.
Six of the children have filed two separate lawsuits alleging horrific abuse at the foster home they were sent to after their rescue from the home of David and Louise Turpin — their biological parents.
The suits were filed against Riverside County and ChildNet Youth and Family Services, Inc. The foster parents are identified as "Mr. and Mrs. O," and according to the suit, their adult daughter was also involved in abusing the children.
According to the children's lawsuit, while in the care of Mr. and Mrs. O, the children suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The suit alleges the female children were sexually abused by Mr. O. It also says that three of the siblings were hit with a belt and struck in the head. The children were called names like "worthless" and routinely made to sit in a circle and recount the horrific details of their previous abuse.
In even more jarring claims, the children allege they were encouraged to physically harm themselves. They also say they were forced to eat excessively until they threw up. Then, they say, they were forced to consume their own vomit.
According to the suit, ChildNet was aware the foster family was not fit to care for the children but placed them there regardless. Apparently, they had a "prior history of physically and emotionally abusing children as well as severely neglected children who had been placed in their care."
The suit says the organization did so due to financial motivations. The Turpin children say they notified the organizations of the abuse but were kept in the home for three years. The "defendants were put on notice that Mr. and Mrs. O and their adult daughter were sexually, physically and emotionally abusing and severely neglecting them," the complaints allege. "At least one of the plaintiffs had conversations with defendants' social workers in which she conveyed that information and asked for help."
"The Turpin 13 endured some of the most sickening child abuse the County of Riverside has ever seen," Elan Zektser, one of the attorneys representing the Turpins, said in a statement obtained by People. "After these vulnerable children were freed, they were placed by the County through CHILDNET into a known abusive foster home."
The statement continued, "It is beyond shocking that the County and CHILDNET let these kids get horrifically abused once again. Our communities should be appalled."
The Turpin children were rescued from their home in 2018 when Jordan Turpin, who was 17 at the time, escaped from the family's California home and told authorities about the horrific circumstances he and his 12 siblings were living in. The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29, were forced to remain indoors, beaten, starved, and sometimes chained to beds or put in cages.
David and Louise Turpin were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the horrific abuse of their children.
While many of the children are now over 18, four are still in foster care. Their attorneys say they are safe and remain together at this time.
