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Anybody posted about the 13 siblings found chained in California home?


VaKim
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5272703/Police-13-siblings-chained-California-home.html

 

Just how in the world can such a thing happen? And when did it start? And why didn't someone somewhere wonder where the kids were?

 

Edited to add, I know nothing about this particular news source. It was just one of many that say the same thing. 

Edited by VaKim
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And why didn't someone somewhere wonder where the kids were?

The dad has a private school registered to their home address so I am guessing they are using the private school affidavit to homeschool. My kids were in public school and no one checks when I didn’t register for the next grade whether I homeschool or put them in another school.

 

From NBC LA https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/13-Children-Hospitalized-Parents-Jailed-Torture-Charges-Perris-469421183.html

“Neighbors say that the family kept to themselves, and when the children did come out, they did not look healthy.

"They looked very unnutrioned [sic], very white, like they never got sun at all," Wendy Martinez said. "I mean, they would never come out and when they did, the lady would stand there watching them."

Real estate records also reveal that Sandcastle Day School - a private school owned by David Turpin - is located at the couple's home.

The couple's victims range in age from 2 to 29 years old. All of them have been hospitalized.â€

 

ETA:

From Fox 5vSan Diego http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/01/15/teens-911-call-leads-to-discovery-of-12-siblings-held-captive-in-home/

“The 13 victims, ranging in age from 2 to 29, were taken to area hospitals for examination and treatment. The six children were in the custody of Riverside Child Protective Services. The seven adults were being helped by Riverside Adult Protective Services.â€

Edited by Arcadia
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craziness.

 

Not a lot of information but this particular couple so far doesn't look like religious extremists--just their own weird and insane? Las Vegas Elvis impersonator wedding and all...

 

More than half the kids were adults.

 

That 17 year old must have been courageous to break out and call police.

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There were pictures from as little as a year ago of them all out in public. The oldest must have been 28. They just suddenly said they were going to chain them up and everyone agreed? Or more likely i guess they have always been chained at night and one day they just decided not to take the chains off?

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Edited to add, I know nothing about this particular news source. It was just one of many that say the same thing.

 

 

In general, the Daily Fail is sensationalist, right wing, and not reliable. It is the newspaper Vernon Dursley reads. Never a good thing.

 

However, as you said, this story has been reported in many reputable sources.

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Did they have all of the children together before marrying or was it a blended family? The wedding picture has all 13 children in it. The house sure looks small for a family that size.

 

It also seems strange to me that the grandparents would have no contact with the grandchildren for that many years. I can certainly understand not seeing them in person, but no contact at all, especially with adult grandchildren?

Edited by Frances
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Some of the pictures were as recent as 2016, so it seems like this was a new thing? Seriously weird.

They obviously haven't been chained to their beds constantly for years, but all those adult siblings living at home apparently under the control of the parents strongly suggests major abuse dating back many years.

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Looking at the wedding picture, it is hard to imagine any of those young people are 27, or that more than 1/2 of them are at least 18. i imagine a deeply disturbed family that became increasingly controlling as the "children" began trying to assert independence.

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Did they have all of the children together before marrying or was it a blended family? 

 

According to the video on the link posted, they have been married 30 years. The Elvis wedding was a renewal of their vows Oct. 31, 2015. Apparently they are all theirs and not a blended family.

 

Very sad case.

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There are pictures from a year or two ago and there's no way I'd believe that many of those children were actually adults in their 20's. They all look very young and thin.

 

Something weird about the Elvis wedding renewal: There seems to be pictures showing two different wedding renewals in the same place with the children wearing the same clothing. The mom, however, is wearing a different dress and has a different hairstyle and a baby has been added to the family. One of the boys is much taller in one set of pictures too. I just can't figure it out. Very strange!

 

ETA: Apparently they would have vow renewals every couple of years with all the children wearing those same clothes! Yes, that's very weird.

Edited by mom2scouts
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craziness.

 

Not a lot of information but this particular couple so far doesn't look like religious extremists--just their own weird and insane?

"David Turpin home-schooled his six children at their address, calling it Sandcastle Day School. The grandparents describe the family as very religious and say the 'very strict homeschooling' would involve the children memorizing long Bible passages and even attempting to memorize the entire book."

 

Sandcastle Day School.

 

Pale as ghosts, emaciated, and so undersized that police thought adults in their 20s were children, chained to beds in a filthy room, begging for food and water.

 

  :crying:

Edited by Corraleno
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"David Turpin home-schooled his six children at their address, calling it Sandcastle Day School. The grandparents describe the family as very religious and say the 'very strict homeschooling' would involve the children memorizing long Bible passages and even attempting to memorize the entire book."

 

Sandcastle Day School.

 

Pale as ghosts, emaciated, and so undersized that police thought adults in their 20s were children, chained to beds in a filthy room, begging for food and water.

 

:crying:

Ah, that wasn't in the articles I read.

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If you look at the photos on their Facebook account, you can see that the older children were dressed the same as the younger ones. In the wedding renewal pics, the girls are wearing very childish dresses, white tights, and white Mary Janes. Normal clothes for elementary school kids, not ones in their twenties. You can pretty much figure out which ones are the youngest 6, so the older seven were between 16 and 26 in the wedding photos. The oldest boy and oldest girl look like they could be mid- to late-teens, but really everyone looks young.

 

In a Disneyland pic from a few years ago, the oldest girls have v-neck shirts and you could pretty much count their ribs. This looks like a family that has a history of TIGHT control over their kids. Notice all the girls have the same haircut, and all the boys have heir dad's bowl cut. I wonder if they have ever socialized outside of the family.

 

I wish the best for them. Even though they are now rescued, there is still a lot of trauma to come as they start to realize what they went through and try to adjust.

Edited by ondreeuh
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If the mom is 49, there is a good chance the 2 year old is the child of one of the older daughters who was abused by her father. How sad for these adults who have never lived a normal life. How are they going to cope and survive? Who will take care of them? The younger siblings will go into foster care and hopefully land with a good family.

Edited by Nart
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I'm so creeped out by the matching outfits in the pictures. My younger kids frequently wear matching clothes, but they usually dress themselves, and choose to match. I tend to buy similar outfits because they are so close in age that they want what each other has. But by about 8yo, they start changing things up, and adding their own personality to what they choose to wear. The older they get, the more I am encouraging choice and expression. The stark removal of individualism at those ages is shocking.

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"Others said they had seen the children digging for food in the garbage bins, but had not taken notice as it did not look sinister."

 

Really? Kids digging for food in garbage bins in a reasonably nice neighborhood didn't concern any of the neighbors? Wtf is wrong with people?

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If the mom is 49, there is a good chance the 2 year old is the child of one of the older daughters who was abused by her father. How sad for these adults who have never lived a normal life. How are they going to cope and survive? Who will take care of them? The younger siblings will go into foster care and hopefully land with a good family.

Getting pregnant at 46 is within the range of normal, especially for a woman who has had many former pregnancies.

 

The other scenario is certainly possible as well, but I don't think we can jump to that conclusion. I know quite a few mothers of large families who were having babies in their mid forties and have seen research suggesting that late fertility is more common among women who have many children.

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I think the best we can hope for is that they were just a "regular" controlling household and the parents lost it completely a relatively short time ago.

It really doesn’t sound like that’s the case -

http://abc7.com/grandparents-say-god-called-on-perris-couple-to-have-so-many-children/2950254/

 

Every day there are many calls to the police about any number of ridiculous, small disputes between neighbors. It really boggles my mind that people call on that stuff, but don’t call on this.

 

Plus, for seven adults to be that small and stunted in height, you’re going to ned to be lacking in sufficient nutrition for a long time. I cannot imagine a 17 year old the size of my 10 year old. Granted she’s usually the tallest in a group of same age peers, but even then...

 

The story is horrifying.

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"Others said they had seen the children digging for food in the garbage bins, but had not taken notice as it did not look sinister."

 

Really? Kids digging for food in garbage bins in a reasonably nice neighborhood didn't concern any of the neighbors? Wtf is wrong with people?

 

'Cause this is America, honey!  We keep our heads down and mind our own business!  :glare:

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I'm so creeped out by the matching outfits in the pictures. My younger kids frequently wear matching clothes, but they usually dress themselves, and choose to match. I tend to buy similar outfits because they are so close in age that they want what each other has. But by about 8yo, they start changing things up, and adding their own personality to what they choose to wear. The older they get, the more I am encouraging choice and expression. The stark removal of individualism at those ages is shocking.

The dresses are obviously way too juvenile for anyone over 8 or so but it is quite common for matching dresses at a wedding and so that part doesn't seem too weird. Actually I think vow renewals that copy a wedding like this are weird anyways but everyone matching would be ok if they dresses were different or there were multiple styles of the same colors. I am headed into weddings pretty soon with my oldest kids and I sure hope no one thinks that have the siblings match for the wedding would be creepy.

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The dresses are obviously way too juvenile for anyone over 8 or so but it is quite common for matching dresses at a wedding and so that part doesn't seem too weird. Actually I think vow renewals that copy a wedding like this are weird anyways but everyone matching would be ok if they dresses were different or there were multiple styles of the same colors. I am headed into weddings pretty soon with my oldest kids and I sure hope no one thinks that have the siblings match for the wedding would be creepy.

The wedding one, I agree, if the dresses had been age appropriate. There's another one at a park or something.

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It really doesn’t sound like that’s the case -

http://abc7.com/grandparents-say-god-called-on-perris-couple-to-have-so-many-children/2950254/

 

Every day there are many calls to the police about any number of ridiculous, small disputes between neighbors. It really boggles my mind that people call on that stuff, but don’t call on this.

 

Plus, for seven adults to be that small and stunted in height, you’re going to ned to be lacking in sufficient nutrition for a long time. I cannot imagine a 17 year old the size of my 10 year old. Granted she’s usually the tallest in a group of same age peers, but even then...

 

The story is horrifying.

Their being underweight could be from a suddenly-gone-nuts situation, but overall stunted growth (height, weight, fragile bones and slack muscles) is the result of long term malnutrition and confinement. So so sad, I cannot imagine how they got away with this for more than two decades.

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I'm so creeped out by the matching outfits in the pictures. My younger kids frequently wear matching clothes, but they usually dress themselves, and choose to match. I tend to buy similar outfits because they are so close in age that they want what each other has. But by about 8yo, they start changing things up, and adding their own personality to what they choose to wear. The older they get, the more I am encouraging choice and expression. The stark removal of individualism at those ages is shocking.

Matching outfits for photos is quite common. I've got family reunion photos on my wall with 40-50 people of all ages in matching t-shirts.

 

Matching outfits for weddings is common.

 

Matching shirts or outfits for large groups going together to a public place such as Disneyland is a great strategy for not losing people; my kid's school class always wears their school shirts for field trips. I often put all my kids in neon orange t-shirts for zoo outings and such.

 

Obviously there was weirdness and abuse in this family but the fact they they have photos with matching outfits isn't a warning flag on its own.

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Matching outfits for photos is quite common. I've got family reunion photos on my wall with 40-50 people of all ages in matching t-shirts.

 

Matching outfits for weddings is common.

 

Matching shirts or outfits for large groups going together to a public place such as Disneyland is a great strategy for not losing people; my kid's school class always wears their school shirts for field trips. I often put all my kids in neon orange t-shirts for zoo outings and such.

 

Obviously there was weirdness and abuse in this family but the fact they they have photos with matching outfits isn't a warning flag on its own.

 

I don't think you have any family photos of all the girls, whether 2 or 29, wearing the same unfashionable children's dress, or in which all of the boys, whether 2 or 29, have the exact same (esoteric) hairstyle as Dad.

 

Normal people match colors or color schemes, or wear matching t-shirts, in the situations you describe. 

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I'm with hornblower, who wondered if they were *here*.

 

I'm with Mergath, who doesn't understand how a person does not report, or even wonder about, children who are obviously foraging for food in the trash, or who looks the other way even though the children are not allowed to greet their neighbors or come outdoors in the daylight.

 

I'm with the poster on the Free Jinger board who wonders if horrific abuse neglect cases among "homeschooling" families are like cockroaches - nobody really knows they're there, but if you see one, there are a dozen more.

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Their being underweight could be from a suddenly-gone-nuts situation, but overall stunted growth (height, weight, fragile bones and slack muscles) is the result of long term malnutrition and confinement. So so sad, I cannot imagine how they got away with this for more than two decades.

Correct, but none of the boys look taller than their dad and the deputies and police officers reporting are surprised to learn that 7 of them are adults instead of children? That doesn’t seem like a suddenly-gone-nuts situation.

Edited by mamaraby
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'Cause this is America, honey! We keep our heads down and mind our own business! :glare:

Devil’s Advocate—what if someone posted here “there is this weird homeschooling family next door. Their kids are kind of skinny and pale and I swear I saw them playing in the garbage. Should I call CPS?†I doubt any of us would suggest that. It makes us feel better to think “this couldn’t happen in my neighborhood, I’d report them†but hindsight is 20/20.

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Devil’s Advocate—what if someone posted here “there is this weird homeschooling family next door. Their kids are kind of skinny and pale and I swear I saw them playing in the garbage. Should I call CPS?†I doubt any of us would suggest that. It makes us feel better to think “this couldn’t happen in my neighborhood, I’d report them†but hindsight is 20/20.

No, but if the person was like, "I've only seen the kids a couple times over several years, there was an infant who seems to have disappeared, they were digging for food in the garbage and the parents had the kids out rolling sod at night and they weren't allowed to speak to me," I'd probably suggest calling CPS. I used to be a mandated reporter and that's enough red flags for me to call.

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I'm with hornblower, who wondered if they were *here*.

 

I'm with Mergath, who doesn't understand how a person does not report, or even wonder about, children who are obviously foraging for food in the trash, or who looks the other way even though the children are not allowed to greet their neighbors or come outdoors in the daylight.

 

I'm with the poster on the Free Jinger board who wonders if horrific abuse neglect cases among "homeschooling" families are like cockroaches - nobody really knows they're there, but if you see one, there are a dozen more.

All these points are why I have no problem with REASONABLE oversight of homeschooling families.

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Devil’s Advocate—what if someone posted here “there is this weird homeschooling family next door. Their kids are kind of skinny and pale and I swear I saw them playing in the garbage. Should I call CPS?†I doubt any of us would suggest that. It makes us feel better to think “this couldn’t happen in my neighborhood, I’d report them†but hindsight is 20/20.

My thoughts have evolved a bit over the years and it may be influenced by my dh being an LEO, but I think I’d err on the side of calling the non-emergency number for the police and asking them to perform a welfare check. Well, in my case, I’d tell dh and make him do it, but for me that’s in essence the same thing.

Edited by mamaraby
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I wouldn't call CPS, but I have and would call LEO for a welfare check. Now, the problem is, if someone opens the door and says all is fine, there's not enough probable cause for them to come in. But if the LEO sees something that does warrant probable cause, or if the homeowner consents to them entering, things can be found. 

 

I had a neighbor who committed suicide, and I did call for a welfare check. He told the LEO he was fine. He was dead 48 hours later. 

 

And I've said this before on threads like this - stories like this are the reason that HS will one day be outlawed. People always jump all over me, but it is truly easier to hide abuse when your kids HS than when a kid is in public or private school.

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I don't think you have any family photos of all the girls, whether 2 or 29, wearing the same unfashionable children's dress, or in which all of the boys, whether 2 or 29, have the exact same (esoteric) hairstyle as Dad.

 

Normal people match colors or color schemes, or wear matching t-shirts, in the situations you describe.

Oh, I agree that the not age appropriate dresses are weird, but pp was suggesting that matching outfits are inherently creepy. All of the matching outfit photos are clearly staged photo shoots, the non dress ones were just t-shirts and jeans, and no I don't find the fact of matching for a photo shoot creepy. If there were casual shots indicating that the kids were always dressed alike...yeah, weird.

But no a family at Disneyland all wearing jeans and matching t-shirts is not inherently creepy.

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Devil’s Advocate—what if someone posted here “there is this weird homeschooling family next door. Their kids are kind of skinny and pale and I swear I saw them playing in the garbage. Should I call CPS?†I doubt any of us would suggest that. It makes us feel better to think “this couldn’t happen in my neighborhood, I’d report them†but hindsight is 20/20.

Piggybacking...

 

I think of all the threads where posters are advised to cut off contact with (usually) a grandparent and to get the book Boundaries.

 

We're are really only getting one side of the story...

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I wouldn't call CPS, but I have and would call LEO for a welfare check. Now, the problem is, if someone opens the door and says all is fine, there's not enough probable cause for them to come in. But if the LEO sees something that does warrant probable cause, or if the homeowner consents to them entering, things can be found.

 

I had a neighbor who committed suicide, and I did call for a welfare check. He told the LEO he was fine. He was dead 48 hours later.

 

And I've said this before on threads like this - stories like this are the reason that HS will one day be outlawed. People always jump all over me, but it is truly easier to hide abuse when your kids HS than when a kid is in public or private school.

I would hope we could come up with some reasonable regulations rather than getting homeschool outlawed. I'm a bit cynical with regard to how much more regulation would help kids in this kind of situation--I think the parents would just not register as homeschoolers. But at least if they weren't following the homeschool regulations it would be harder to pin their issues on homeschoolers in general.

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Piggybacking...

 

I think of all the threads where posters are advised to cut off contact with (usually) a grandparent and to get the book Boundaries.

 

We're are really only getting one side of the story...

Yep. Everytime we have those threads, I imagine a grandma on some message board somewhere complaining about her horrible DIL. Two sides.....

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I would hope we could come up with some reasonable regulations rather than getting homeschool outlawed. I'm a bit cynical with regard to how much more regulation would help kids in this kind of situation--I think the parents would just not register as homeschoolers. But at least if they weren't following the homeschool regulations it would be harder to pin their issues on homeschoolers in general.

QFT.  I think that there would be cases of abuse caught. Because I think some cases the parent doesn't believe what they are doing is abusive due to some kind of mental illness. 

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