Police have discovered more than ten children and adults aged between two and 29 confined in their family home in Perris, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles. Some of them were shackled to beds, according to media reports.
"Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house but were shocked to discover that seven of them were actually adults. The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty," the Riverside county sheriff’s office said in a statement.
UPDATE: Booking Photos Torture/Child Endangerment Investigation in Perris pic.twitter.com/4IdK7vPB2n
— Riverside County Sheriff's Dept (@RSO) 15 января 2018 г.
According to the police, six of the children were minors, while the other seven were over 18.
The discovery was made after a 17-year-old girl managed to escape the house and call police with the help of a mobile phone she found there.
These poor 13 children in California that were kept prisoner by their parents. Some were chained to beds.. Thankfully they are now receiving treatment in hospital and the parents are in jail,where they belong. It's unbelievable cruelty…
— Kate May (@maidai) 16 января 2018 г.
The children’s parents, 57-year-old David Allen Turpin and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin have already been detained and accused of nine counts of torture and ten counts of child endangerment. They are due to appear in court on Thursday.
Where did these monsters get these children?
— AmericanME (@AmericanLuvSong) 16 января 2018 г.
Several look too close in age to be natural-born siblings.
Why was the depraved wife dressed as SNOW WHITE in one photo?
Are these children victims of human/sex trafficking?#Tucker #QAnon #TheStormIsHerehttps://t.co/JGWLeJM7TX
Media outlets cited the Turpins' neighbors as saying that "they seemed like the perfect family."
#DailyPrayer for Californian #Perry's Kids — "#Police find 13 siblings chained up in #California home" — Free at last, on #MLK's Day. Who am I, #Jesus, that You should care so much❓ Praise the Lord. Btw, I've never seen "neighbors of a #CS" so shocked https://t.co/cJRJkCdFyi pic.twitter.com/AZOvBspr9J
— Jesus & Lara❤️Daily-Pray (@BlackQueenLara) 16 января 2018 г.
Meanwhile, Twitter users have been quick to react, with most of them saying that they were shocked about the news.
A girl in CA calls 911, says she’s escaped home where parents have been holding her & siblings captive
— Dianne Gallagher (@DianneG) 15 января 2018 г.
Deputies find 13 people — ages 2 to 29 —being held there against their will- several shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks
Parents arrested
This story is horrific pic.twitter.com/5MXZGVZNHV
Some cast doubt on the notion that the children were "natural-born" siblings.
☠️HOUSE OF HORRORS!☠️
— FIERY🔥"GᖇIT”♋️2CNTS 💋✨💫Per ardua ad astra🗝💫 ✨ (@SusanStormXO) 16 января 2018 г.
Creepy California Couple Arrested — Shackled Their 13 Children to Beds, Starved & Tortured Them 🎥
COST??WHY? #WTH
CALIFORNIA Folks torturing their own FAMILIES.
Yet please let’s raise hell for illegals.
DENIED welfare????https://t.co/hVlbHmHYK9 pic.twitter.com/3wacZOktnF
