Marcelino Olguin and the Turpin Foster Care Abuse Case

Marcelino Camacho Olguin is the former Perris, California foster father at the center of the Turpin foster care abuse case. Between April 2018 and March 2021, he sexually abused several of the rescued Turpin siblings and other foster children placed in his home, while his wife and adult daughter inflicted physical and psychological abuse on the same children. In October 2024, Olguin was sentenced to seven years in state prison and ordered to register as a lifetime sex offender. His wife, Rosa Armida Olguin, and daughter, Lennys Giovanna Olguin, pleaded guilty to child abuse and related charges and received probation.

How the Turpin Children Ended Up in the Olguin Home

In January 2018, a 17-year-old girl escaped a house on Muir Woods Road in Perris and called 911 on a deactivated cell phone. Deputies found her 12 siblings inside, ranging in age from 2 to 29, starved, shackled, and cut off from the outside world. David and Louise Turpin later pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts, including torture, and were each sentenced to 25 years to life.¹

Beginning in April 2018, six of the youngest Turpin siblings were placed with the Olguin family in Perris. Riverside County Child Protective Services coordinated the placements through ChildNet Inc., a private foster family agency the county had contracted to provide foster care services.² The household included Marcelino, then 63; his wife Rosa, then 58; and their adult daughter Lennys, then 37.³ By the time the Olguins were arrested, nine victims had been identified across both the Turpin siblings and other children fostered in the home.⁴

What the Olguins Did to the Children

Prosecutors said Marcelino Olguin inappropriately touched girls in his care more than 50 times, forcibly kissed them, made sexually suggestive comments, and pulled a minor on top of him.⁵ In a 2026 ABC News interview, Julissa Turpin said that on her first night in the home, at age 11, Marcelino told her she was “sexy” and later touched her inappropriately and kissed her by force.⁶

The abuse extended beyond Marcelino’s sexual conduct. The family confined children to their rooms, installed door chimes to track their movements, and forced them into what they called “circle confession talks,” in which the children had to recount in detail the abuse they had suffered under their biological parents.⁵ Children were hit with belts, had their hair pulled, and were struck on the head. They were forced to eat until they vomited and then made to eat the vomit. The Olguins told the children they were “worthless,” that “nobody would ever love them,” and that they “should commit suicide.”⁷

Retired detective Thomas Salisbury described the treatment of a 5-year-old in the home, who was given sleeping pills, forced to stand inside taped squares on the floor, sprayed with water, and locked in a bathroom.⁸

How the Abuse Was Uncovered

The case nearly closed without the children being removed. Jordan Turpin, the same sibling whose 911 call led to the original 2018 rescue, alerted Salisbury, a master investigator with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department who had led the earlier Turpin probe. When Salisbury joined the case on March 3, 2021, the county’s Children’s Services Division was already investigating the Olguins but planned to close the matter without removing anyone. Salisbury said the agency “wanted us to attend the forensic interviews, nod our heads and call it a day.”⁹

Four earlier calls to Children’s Services about the Olguins had never been forwarded to law enforcement. Prior caseworker interviews with the children had taken place with the foster parents present or within earshot, which left the children too afraid to speak. Salisbury canceled the planned forensic interviews, interviewed the children separately, and served a search warrant on the Olguin home two days after taking over. He told supervisors who resisted removal: “If you are going to deny me, you better get some cops to the door because I’m going over there.”⁹

Charges, Pleas, and Sentences

All three Olguins were arrested and charged in November 2021 with nearly a dozen offenses, including child cruelty, false imprisonment, and witness intimidation. Marcelino faced additional counts of lewd acts on a child under 14.³

In September 2024, each entered a guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Gail O’Rane. Marcelino admitted to seven counts of lewd acts on a minor, one count of inflicting injury on a child, and one count of false imprisonment, with four charges dropped. Rosa, then 60, pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse, one count of witness intimidation, one count of grand theft, and one count of false imprisonment. Lennys, then 39, pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse, one count of false imprisonment, and one count of witness intimidation.¹⁰

On October 18, 2024, Marcelino Olguin was sentenced to seven years in state prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.¹¹ Rosa and Lennys each received four years of felony probation, three to four months in a sheriff’s work-release program, and a suspended four-year prison term that would be imposed on any probation violation. The judge ordered both to have no contact with the nine victims.⁴

The $13.5 Million Civil Settlement

In 2022, attorneys Elan Zektser of Oakwood Legal Group and Roger Booth of Booth Law sued Riverside County and ChildNet Inc. on behalf of six Turpin children. The complaint alleged that the defendants placed the siblings with the Olguins despite prior abuse complaints about the home and failed to act on later warnings. Zektser said a sheriff’s investigator reported that ChildNet refused to turn over records to law enforcement.¹²

In late 2025, the parties settled for $13.5 million before trial. ChildNet agreed to pay $11.25 million and Riverside County $2.25 million, giving each of the six plaintiffs $2.25 million before attorney’s fees. Neither defendant admitted wrongdoing.¹³ Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said: “The trauma endured by this family is heartbreaking. The abuse these children suffered in both their biological and adoptive homes was tragic and unacceptable.” ChildNet took the position that the abuse occurred after the children had left its care and after the foster case had closed. Booth called that a “cute distinction” and said ChildNet employees had internally raised concerns that were ignored.¹²

What Changed in Riverside County

Riverside County commissioned an independent review in 2021 led by former federal Judge Stephen Larson. The Larson report concluded that the county’s social services system had “failed” the Turpin siblings, citing excessive caseloads, poor interagency communication, and interview practices that let abusers sit in on questioning.¹⁴

The county reported the following changes:

Children’s Services Division social workers grew from 573 at the end of fiscal year 2021–22 to 740, cutting investigative caseloads by 27 percent.
The Board of Supervisors established a standing oversight committee in December 2021 to coordinate across departments and track corrective action.
Complex cases are now assigned to multi-disciplinary teams that include behavioral health, housing, and law enforcement staff.
Staff were retrained to interview children privately, away from caregivers and recording devices.
New policies require social workers to request law enforcement assistance on high-risk cases, with formal communication channels among child welfare, the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney, and County Counsel.
Placement with relatives is now prioritized whenever possible.¹⁵

Riverside County also ended its contractual relationship with ChildNet Inc.²

Where the Siblings Are Now

In February 2026, three of the siblings who had lived with the Olguins — James, 24; Jolinda, 20; and Julissa, 19 — spoke publicly for the first time in an ABC News special, “The Turpins: A New House of Horrors.” They described the abuse in the Olguin home as worse than what they had endured from their biological parents. “Something good needs to come out of it,” Jolinda said. “It has to, and I can’t accept it not.”⁶

All six of the younger Turpin children have been moved to new homes. Only one remains a minor. The others have graduated from high school, some are attending college, and one of the siblings, Jennifer, has married.¹²

1
Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. David and Louise Turpin Plead Guilty
2
NBC Los Angeles. Turpin Children Settle With Riverside County
3
KESQ. Foster Care Parents Arraigned on Abuse Charges
4
ABC News. Foster Parents of Turpin Siblings Sentenced
5
ABC7. Perris Foster Parents Plead Guilty to Abusing Turpin Children
6
ABC News. Turpin Siblings Speak for the First Time
7
KESQ. Foster Parents of Several Turpin Siblings Sentenced on Child Abuse Charges
8
ABC7 News. Former Detective Thomas Salisbury Speaks on Investigation
9
Press-Telegram. The Turpin Children Wound Up in Yet Another Abusive Home
10
KESQ. Trio Admit to Inflicting Abuse on Turpin Kids
11
CNN. California Foster Dad Sentenced for Child Abuse
12
Press Enterprise. 6 Turpin Children to Split $13.5 Million Settlement
13
U.S. News & World Report. California County, Agency Reach $13.5 Million Settlement
14
ABC11. 13 Turpin Siblings: Where Are the Kids Now
15
ABC News. Turpin Siblings Case: Riverside County Statement