The Turpin siblings, who endured years of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse at the hands of their biological parents, are now suing their county of residence as well as a private foster agency for placing them with an abusive foster family.
Back in 2018, 17-year-old Jordan Turpin helped liberate herself and her twelve siblings from the clutches of their barbarous parents when she made a daring escape, sneaking out of a window at night and dialing 911 using an old, disabled cell phone. Turpin managed to convince a deputy that she and her siblings were in a very unhealthy environment by showing him photos of her sisters chained to a bed as punishment for stealing their mother’s candy. One of the girls had been chained up for over two weeks. The deputy then did a wellness check at the home, and after finding another child chained up, immediately arrested the Turpin parents.
Once David and Louise Turpin were arrested, more details about the “House of Horrors” were revealed to the public. Twelve of the couple’s thirteen children often ate only once a day, bathed only once a year, and were given little or no formal education. In 2019, David and Louise Turpin pled guilty to imprisoning and torturing their children, and both are serving life sentences.
Unfortunately, the Turpin children’s hellish existence didn’t end there. According to a lawsuit filed by six of the siblings, Riverside County officials and a private foster care agency called ChildNet knowingly placed them into another abusive home.
The lawsuit alleges that the Turpin children were placed in the care of a couple, identified only as Mr. and Mrs. O, and the Os’ adult daughter, all three of whom reportedly inflicted physical, emotional, and psychological abuse on the children. The examples of abuse listed in the lawsuit include sexual misconduct, hitting children with belts, pulling their hair, and force-feeding them until they threw up and then forcing them to eat their own vomit.
The kids were also allegedly often left to sit alone outside for hours, made to recount the abuse suffered under the Turpins, and were told that they would be returned to their parents if they didn’t cooperate.
The lawsuit claims that the Os had a documented history of abuse and that both the county and ChildNet were aware of it or should have been aware of it. Instead, the agencies allowed the Turpin children to remain in the care of the Os for three years.
“Defendants had a duty to protect plaintiffs, but instead protected Mr. and Mrs. O by failing to report the abuse and neglect of plaintiffs to Child Protective Services or to law enforcement and by failing to intervene and interfere when abuse and neglect was reported by others,” the lawsuit argues.
Neither ChildNet nor county representatives have responded to requests for comment from the Huffington Post.