The Turpin Case: Foster Abuse and the $13.5M Settlement

The Turpin case is the 2018 discovery that David and Louise Turpin had been torturing, starving, and chaining their 13 children inside their Perris, California home. It came to light when their 17-year-old daughter Jordan climbed out a window and called 911. The parents pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. But the case did not end with the rescue: six of the younger siblings were then placed with a foster family that abused them for three years, producing a second criminal prosecution, a scathing independent report on Riverside County’s social services, and a $13.5 million civil settlement in late 2025.

The 911 Call and the Rescue

On January 14, 2018, Jordan Turpin climbed out a window of the family’s house on Muir Woods Road in Perris and dialed 911 on a deactivated cell phone. During a roughly 22-minute call, she told the dispatcher her parents were abusive and that two of her younger sisters were chained up at that moment. She struggled to give the home’s address. “I’ve never been out,” she said. “I don’t go out much.”¹

Deputy Manuel Campos responded. He later testified that Jordan appeared far younger than 17 and was “scared to death.” Within two hours, David and Louise Turpin were in custody.²

Inside the home, officers found 13 children ranging from a toddler to adults in their late twenties. A 22-year-old was still chained to a bed. Two more, ages 11 and 14, had been unchained by the parents in the minutes before officers entered. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin called the conditions “deplorable.”³

What the Children Had Been Living Through

Every child but the youngest, a 2-year-old, was severely malnourished. A 12-year-old weighed about what an average 7-year-old weighs. A 29-year-old daughter weighed 82 pounds. One 11-year-old girl had a mid-arm circumference matching that of a 4.5-month-old infant.³ The house was dark, foul-smelling, and full of trash. Toys sat still sealed in their packaging, kept out of the children’s reach.⁴

Prosecutors traced the abuse to at least 2010, when the family moved from the Fort Worth, Texas area to Murrieta, California. They moved again to Perris in 2014.⁵ The parents started with ropes and switched to chains and padlocks after one child escaped a hogtie. Children were chained for weeks or months at a time, confined to their rooms for about 20 hours a day, and not released to use the bathroom.⁴

Food was rationed to roughly one meal a day: peanut butter sandwiches, bologna, frozen burritos, chips. The parents ate full meals in front of them. Prosecutors said pies were left on the counter within sight but forbidden. Some children survived on ketchup, mustard, or ice.⁶

The children showered once a year. Washing above the wrist was punished as “playing in the water.” None had seen a doctor in more than four years, and none had ever seen a dentist. The malnutrition caused nerve damage and cognitive impairment in several of them.³

David and Louise claimed to be homeschooling. In practice they provided no education, and coached the children to recite a grade level if asked. Many did not know what a police officer was. Jordan did not know what medication was.⁴ The children had been planning an escape for two years before Jordan managed one.³

The Parents’ Guilty Pleas and Sentences

David Allen Turpin and Louise Ann Turpin were initially charged with more than 40 counts, including torture, false imprisonment, and child abuse. On February 22, 2019, they pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Schwartz in Riverside. Each admitted to 14 felony counts: one count of torture, four of false imprisonment, six of cruelty to an adult dependent, and three of willful child cruelty. The plea covered at least one crime for each of the 12 older children; no counts were filed as to the youngest.⁵

On April 19, 2019, Judge Schwartz sentenced both to 25 years to life, the maximum available under California law.⁷ Hestrin said the plea spared the victims from having to testify. Both are eligible for parole after roughly 22 years and four months.⁸ Louise Turpin is incarcerated at the California Institution for Women, with a parole eligibility date listed as September 2032.⁹

The Second Round of Abuse in Foster Care

Starting in 2018, the six youngest siblings were placed at various times with foster parents Marcelino and Rosa Olguin and their adult daughter, Lennys, through the private agency ChildNet.¹⁰ According to later civil filings and criminal testimony, the Olguins hit the children with sandals and belts, pulled their hair, and force-fed them until they vomited, then made them eat the vomit. Marcelino Olguin was accused of sexual abuse, including grabbing and fondling the girls. The children were told they were worthless and should kill themselves.¹¹

Retired detective Thomas Salisbury, who investigated, described daily abuse of a 5-year-old that included sleeping pills, forced standing inside a taped square on the floor, being sprayed with a water bottle, and being locked in a bathroom. Salisbury said Riverside County officials refused when he sought to have the children removed. He obtained arrest and search warrants on his own, and the Olguins “admitted to all the crimes.”¹²

The three Olguins were arrested in 2021 and pleaded guilty in September 2024. On October 18, 2024, Marcelino Olguin was sentenced to seven years in state prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life. Rosa Olguin received four years of felony probation and 120 days in a sheriff’s work-release program. Lennys Olguin received four years of probation and 150 days in work release. The judge ordered no contact with the victims.¹¹

The County Investigation and What It Found

After an ABC News investigation in 2021 reported that the siblings were “living in squalor” years after their rescue, Riverside County retained Larson LLP, headed by former federal judge Stephen Larson, to conduct an independent review.¹³ The 630-page report, released in July 2022, concluded that the county’s social services system had “failed,” “unheard,” and “stifled” the siblings. Older siblings faced food insecurity and housing instability while trying to live independently, and struggled with confusing legal proceedings.¹⁴

Investigators also pointed to structural strain. The Office of the Public Guardian, which held conservatorships over seven adult siblings, had a 40% vacancy rate. Caseloads ran about 100 per employee against a recommended 30.¹³

The Donations That Never Reached Them

Public sympathy after the rescue generated more than $600,000 in private donations, plus roughly $1 million held by the JAYC Foundation, a charity founded by kidnapping survivor Jaycee Lee Dugard. Much of that money sat untouched. The Public Guardian failed to file required annual accountings for the siblings’ trust. The Larson report described a “marked lack of communication and coordination” between the Public Guardian, the SAFE Family Justice Centers, and the JAYC Foundation.¹⁵

Meanwhile, adult siblings said they could not access money for food or transportation. Joshua Turpin said his request for a bicycle was refused. Deputy Public Guardian Vanessa Espinoza allegedly told the siblings to “just go Google it” when they asked for help. State records showed Espinoza was working simultaneously as a real estate broker; she left the county in August 2021.¹⁶ Hestrin said publicly that the siblings had been “victimized again by the system.”¹⁷

Reforms After the Report

The Larson report made more than 75 recommendations. In December 2021, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors set up an oversight committee to track corrective action. By 2024, the county had grown its Children Services Division from 573 to 740 social workers, cutting investigative caseloads by 27%. The county also adopted multi-disciplinary teams for complex cases and invested in specialized foster placements and a trauma-informed shelter.¹⁸

At the state level, Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh sponsored Senate Bill 1054, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 23, 2022. It allows county child welfare and adult protective services agencies to share information for abuse prevention and care coordination, a gap the Turpin investigation had exposed.¹⁹

The $13.5 Million Civil Settlement

In 2022, six of the siblings sued Riverside County and ChildNet, alleging both were aware of the Olguin family’s prior history of abusing and neglecting foster children and kept the siblings in that home for three years despite reports of ongoing abuse.²⁰

In late 2025, the case settled for $13.5 million: $11.25 million from ChildNet and $2.25 million from Riverside County. Each of the six siblings receives $2.25 million before attorney’s fees. Neither defendant admitted wrongdoing.²¹²² Attorney Elan Zektser said the siblings “have received enough money that it should assist them for the rest of their lives.”²³

Where the Siblings Are Now

On February 3, 2026, three of the younger siblings, James (24), Julissa (19), and Jolinda (20), spoke publicly for the first time in an ABC News special with Diane Sawyer. Julissa described her time in the Olguin home: “I genuinely just wanted to be safe.” James said he had nightmares that his caregivers were killing them.²⁴

Most of the 13 siblings are now emancipated adults. One, now 10, remains in foster care. According to their attorneys, the others are in college, working, or otherwise building independent lives.²³

Jordan Turpin, whose 911 call ended the family’s captivity, earned a high school diploma in one year, has taken college courses, appeared in Elle, and has built a following on TikTok. She has said she wants to become a motivational speaker and write a book.²⁵ Her sister Jennifer married in October 2024 in Rancho Cucamonga, with several siblings attending.²⁶ Oprah Winfrey has said that actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has been providing ongoing financial and emotional support to the siblings after watching a television special about the case.²⁷

1
CNN. Turpin Family 911 Call
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ABC News. Jordan Turpin Details Making 911 Call
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NPR. Prosecutor Releases New Details in Case Involving Shackled Siblings
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CNN. Turpin Family Conditions Inside House
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Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. David and Louise Turpin Plead Guilty
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ABC News. Turpin Sisters Describe Living in House of Horrors
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CNN. Turpin Parents Sentencing
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6abc. Perris Torture Case: Turpin Parents Get 25 Years to Life
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People. Where Are David and Louise Turpin Now
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ABC News. Foster Parents of Turpin Siblings Sentenced on Child Abuse Charges
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KESQ. Foster Parents of Several Turpin Siblings Sentenced on Child Abuse Charges
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ABC7. Retired Sheriff’s Detective Speaks on Turpin Children Abuse Investigation
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ABC7. Turpin Siblings Report Social Services System Failures
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Los Angeles Times. Turpin Children Were Failed, Unheard, Stifled by California Social Services, Investigation Finds
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Press-Enterprise. What Happened to the $1.2 Million Raised for the Turpin Children
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ABC7. Turpin Children House of Horrors
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ABC7. Turpin Riverside County Perris Children
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ABC News. Turpin Siblings Case Riverside County Statement
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Press-Enterprise. New State Law Seeks to Bridge a Gap Exposed by Turpin Case
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ABC7. Turpin Lawsuit Family House of Horrors Children
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Press-Enterprise. 6 Turpin Children to Split $13.5 Million Lawsuit Settlement
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U.S. News and World Report. California County, Agency Reach $13.5 Million Settlement With Six Turpin Children
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NBC Los Angeles. Turpin Children Settle With Riverside County After Being Placed in Abusive Foster Home
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ABC News. 3 Turpin Siblings Speak for the First Time About Abuse From Birth
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Today. Jordan Turpin House Horrors Survivor Model
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People. Where Are the Turpin Siblings Now
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ABC7. Tyler Perry Has Been Taking Care of Abused Turpin Children, Oprah Winfrey Says