Turpin Arrest: Charges, Sentencing, and $13.5M Settlement

The Turpin arrest happened on January 14, 2018, in Perris, California, after 17-year-old Jordan Turpin climbed out a window of the family home on Muir Woods Road and called 911 from a deactivated cell phone. Riverside County sheriff’s deputies who responded found 13 siblings, ages 2 to 29, living in filth, several shackled to furniture. David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin were taken into custody on suspicion of torture and child endangerment, with bail initially set at $9 million each.¹ Both later pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison.²

How the Arrest Happened

Jordan told the 911 dispatcher that her siblings lived in “filth,” had not bathed in nearly a year, had not seen a doctor in five years, and had never visited a dentist.³ She did not know her own address and appeared so malnourished that responders took her for about ten years old.¹ Before leaving the house, she had secretly photographed siblings chained to their beds. Deputy Anthony Colace, one of the responding officers, later said that without those images the case would have been far harder to build.⁴

Inside the home, deputies found a 22-year-old son still chained to a bed and two sisters who had recently been released from restraints. Seven of the 13 siblings were legal adults, though officers at first mistook them all for children because of their size.⁵

What Deputies Found Inside

The conditions that shaped the charges were severe. Prosecutors said the children were allowed one rationed meal a day and permitted to shower roughly once a year. The home smelled of urine, and the children were often denied bathroom access for months at a time.⁶

All of the children’s names began with the letter “J.” The oldest, a 29-year-old woman, weighed 82 pounds when rescued. A 12-year-old had the weight of a typical 7-year-old. Only the 2-year-old was not found to be malnourished.⁷ An 11-year-old’s arm circumference was comparable to that of a four-and-a-half-month-old infant.⁴

Prosecutor Mike Hestrin said the children were beaten and choked, sometimes for something as small as “playing with water” while washing their hands. Toys were bought but forbidden. The children rarely saw sunlight, were kept on a sleep schedule running from 4 or 5 a.m. through the day, and had gone years without dental care or consistent medical attention. The malnutrition had caused cognitive impairment and nerve damage in several siblings.⁶ Many did not know what a police officer was.⁷

The Charges

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Special Victims Unit charged both parents with 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, nine counts of child abuse, and seven counts of cruelty to a dependent adult. David Turpin was additionally charged with one count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14. Louise Turpin faced an additional count of assault resulting in great bodily injury.⁸

In May 2018, prosecutors added eight perjury counts against David Turpin for false private school affidavits he had filed with the California Department of Education between 2010 and 2017. After moving the family from Fort Worth, Texas, to California in 2010, he had registered their home first as “City Day School” in Murrieta and then, after the 2014 move to Perris, as “Sandcastle Day School,” listing himself as principal on annual filings. Prosecutors said the children never actually received an education and that the filings were designed to keep the state from investigating.⁹¹⁰

Guilty Pleas and Sentencing

On February 22, 2019, David and Louise Turpin each pleaded guilty before Judge Bernard Schwartz to 14 felony counts: one count of torture, four counts of false imprisonment, six counts of cruelty to an adult dependent, and three counts of willful child cruelty.¹¹

On April 19, 2019, Judge Schwartz sentenced both to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.² Louise Turpin is currently housed at the California Institution for Women, with a parole eligibility date of September 2032. David Turpin’s specific facility has not been publicly disclosed.¹²

What Happened to the Children After the Arrest

The rescue did not end the harm. In November 2021, an ABC News “20/20” special reported that several adult Turpin siblings were living in what District Attorney Mike Hestrin called “squalor” in “crime-ridden neighborhoods,” without consistent access to food, health care, or transportation. “They have been victimized again by the system,” he said.¹³

Jordan Turpin said she had been released from extended foster care “without warning” and with no plan for shelter, food, or basic life skills. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in public donations sat in accounts the siblings could not reach because the court-appointed Public Guardian’s office had failed to file required annual accountings for their trusts, often years late.¹⁴ Roughly $1 million more, held by the JAYC Foundation established by kidnapping survivor Jaycee Lee Dugard, remained largely inaccessible because the county had not coordinated with the foundation.¹⁵

Riverside County hired the law firm Larson LLP, led by former federal judge Stephen Larson, to conduct an independent investigation. The resulting 634-page report, published July 8, 2022, made 75 formal recommendations and confirmed systemic dysfunction. Public Guardian employees were carrying between 98 and 113 cases each, roughly 3.5 times the recommended 30, and the Children’s Services Division had a 40% vacancy rate. Investigators found no evidence that donated funds were “improperly spent,” but concluded that much of the money went unspent, contributing directly to the siblings’ food and housing insecurity.¹⁶¹⁷

Foster Abuse and the Olguin Prosecution

Six of the youngest Turpin children had been placed in 2018 with a foster family, Marcelino and Rosa Olguin and their adult daughter Lennys Olguin, who were later charged with abusing them. Jordan Turpin alerted authorities to the conduct, and charges were filed in November 2021.¹⁸ Marcelino Olguin was accused of inappropriately touching the children more than 50 times. The children were also hit with belts and sandals, had their hair pulled, were forced to eat their own vomit, and were made to participate in “circle confession talks” recounting past trauma.¹⁹

All three pleaded guilty in September 2024 and were sentenced on October 18, 2024. Marcelino Olguin received seven years in state prison and a lifetime sex-offender registration requirement after admitting to seven counts of lewd acts on a minor and one count of false imprisonment. Rosa Olguin received four years of felony probation and 120 days in a work-release program. Lennys Olguin received four years of probation and 150 days in work release. The court issued a no-contact order between the three defendants and the nine victims.¹⁸

The $13.5 Million Civil Settlement

In 2022, six of the Turpin siblings sued Riverside County and ChildNet, a Long Beach foster care agency also known as Foster Family Network that had placed the children with the Olguins. The suit alleged the agencies placed the children in a home where there were already “credible reports of abuse and neglect.”²⁰

The case settled in late 2025 for $13.5 million. ChildNet paid $11.25 million and Riverside County paid $2.25 million. Each of the six siblings received $2.25 million before attorney’s fees. Four were publicly identified: Jordan, James, Jolinda, and Julissa Turpin. Both defendants denied wrongdoing.²¹²² ChildNet maintained there were “no complaints or allegations of abuse or neglect” during the period the children were under its care and that the alleged abuse occurred after the foster case had closed and the children had been adopted by the Olguins. Attorneys for the Turpin family called that characterization “profoundly disturbing,” pointing out that ChildNet had previously described the children as “thriving” in the Olguin home.²³²⁴

Where Jordan Turpin Is Now

Jordan Turpin, whose escape triggered the arrest, has become the most publicly visible of the siblings. In November 2021, she and her sister Jennifer sat for an exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer for ABC News. Jordan had earned her high school diploma in a single year after the rescue and enrolled in college; Jennifer was working at a restaurant and writing music.⁴ Her public account of being released from foster care without a transition plan is what pushed Riverside County into the independent investigation and the public reckoning that followed.¹⁴

1
BBC News. California Couple Arrested After Children Found Shackled
2
CapRadio (NPR). Turpin Parents Sentenced to Life in Prison
3
ABC News. David and Louise Turpin Parents Allegedly Tortured, Held Kids
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ABC7 News. Jordan Turpin Story, House of Horrors, Diane Sawyer
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ABC7 News. Officials: 13 Siblings Kept Shackled in Home by Parents
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NBC News. California Torture House: 13 Siblings Allowed to Eat Once a Day, Shower Once a Year
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ABC30. Gruesome Details Released About California Torture House
8
The Desert Sun. Turpin Case: New Charges Allege Dad Lied to State Ed. Dept. About Kids
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CBS News. David Turpin Perjury Charges
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Daily Bulletin. Turpins’ 7 Adult Children Never Received Education, Prosecutor Alleges
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Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. David and Louise Turpin Plead Guilty
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People. Where Are David and Louise Turpin Now
13
ABC7. Turpin Children, House of Horrors, Diane Sawyer
14
ABC News. Years After Rescue, Turpin Children Living in Squalor
15
The Press-Enterprise. What Happened to the $1.2 Million Raised for the Turpin Children
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ABC11. Turpin Siblings: Where Are the Kids Now
17
The Press-Enterprise. 5 Questions Raised by the Turpin Report
18
KESQ. Foster Parents of Several Turpin Siblings Sentenced on Child Abuse Charges
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ABC7. Perris Foster Parents Plead Guilty to Abusing Several Turpin Children
20
CBS News. 6 Turpin Siblings Sue Riverside County, Foster Care Agency
21
The Press-Enterprise. 6 Turpin Children to Split $13.5 Million Lawsuit Settlement
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U.S. News & World Report. California County, Agency Reach $13.5 Million Settlement With Six Turpin Children
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ABC News. Turpin Siblings Case: ChildNet Statement on Care
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Fox LA. Turpin Family Foster Care Settlement, Riverside County