'House of horrors': California couple sentenced to life in prison for torturing their children

Corrections and clarifications: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized Friday's sentencing relating to the number of children involved in the charges. It has been corrected.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Southern California couple who pleaded guilty in February to torture, false imprisonment and endangering their children – some for dozens of years – were sentenced Friday to life in prison for charges involving 12 of their 13 children with the possibility of parole only after 25 years.

David and Louise Turpin of Perris, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, appeared in court Friday morning in Riverside about three months after pleading guilty to 14 felony counts. The charges didn't apply to their youngest child, who was 2 when investigators found the victims.

Their sentencing caps a saga that publicly played out for nearly 16 months after being concealed for several decades.

"Children are indeed a gift, they are a gift to their parents," Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Schwartz told the couple before reading the sentence. "The selfish, cruel and inhumane treatment of your children has deprived society and especially you of those gifts.

"Their lives have been permanently altered in their ability to learn, grow and thrive," he continued. By pleading guilty, he told the couple, "you spared your children from having to relive the humiliation and harm they endured in that house of horrors."

More: Turpin children speak of love and nightmares in court statements

By the time the children were rescued, they were an average of 32 pounds underweight and their diets mostly consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, baloney sandwiches and frozen burritos.

Since their arrests, the Turpins – Louise, 50, and David, 57 – had been prevented from seeing their children. And on Friday, two of the children made their first public appearance since January 2018 and chastised their parents in a courtroom full of reporters and law enforcement officials.

The eldest daughter, described as 30 by her attorney, Jack Osborn, spoke for about a minute. Her hair was in a pony tail and she wore a white shirt and black cardigan and held a piece of paper and cup of water in her hands.

“I believe everything happens for a reason. ... My parents took my whole life from me, but now I’m taking my life back,” said Jennifer Turpin, 30. "I saw my dad change my mom, but they didn’t change me. I am a fighter, I am strong and I am shooting through life like a rocket."

Louise Turpin cried as her daughter spoke and the tears continued as she listened to her 27-year-old son, Joshua Turpin, who wore a gray dress shirt with a tie.

"Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that happened, such as my siblings being chained up and being beaten. That is the past and this is now,” said Joshua Turpin. "I love my parents and have forgiven them for a lot of the things that they did to us."

April 18: California couple face lengthy prison terms for torturing their 13 children

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David Turpin broke down when his son mentioned God. Joshua Turpin, who said he is working toward a bachelor's degree in software engineering, wiped away a tear with tissue.

In a statement read in court, daughter Joy Turpin said, “Every year from as far back as I can remember, our parents tried to give us the nicest Christmas they could.”

"They got us annual passes to Disneyland and took us to see the Grand Canyon, Flintstone Park, Vegas, etc. Every year from as far back as I can remember, our parents tried to give us the nicest Christmas they could. They would get us what we wanted even if they couldn’t afford it," the statement said.

She also said a 25-year sentence was too long for her parents.

Then, it was the parents' turn to speak.

June 22: Shackled siblings were choked, caged and thrown down stairs, prosecutor says

June 21: Shackled siblings: Judge says parents must stand trial on abuse, torture charges

"Your honor, I’m going to ask my attorney to read my statement for me," David Turpin said as he started to cry.

"I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to cause them harm. I hope the very best for my children in their future," he said after his attorney ended the written portion of his statement. "I hope they are successful in their chosen professions. I am so proud of each and every one of my children. I miss all of my children."

His wife followed with her statement, which she read herself.

"I'm sorry for everything I’ve done to hurt my children,” she said through tears. "I'm truly sorry. I love them more than they can ever imagine."

More than 75 people, mostly members of the media, crowded into the courtroom. Extra seats were brought in to fill the room to capacity. A Corona Police Department officer sat in the front row of the courtroom with a dog to provide emotional support to any witnesses who needed it.

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February 2018: California couple faces new child abuse charges in torture case

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office had to revise two counts relating to false imprisonment. The Turpins individually withdrew their guilty pleas to the two counts and then pleaded guilty to those counts with slightly different penal code violations because the victims were listed as minors but actually were adults.

The couple's abusive behavior was unveiled in January 2018 after one of the couple's 13 children escaped their tract home in Perris and called police. The 17-year-old girl who made the call told authorities that she never finished first grade, wasn't allowed to take a bath and that her siblings were chained in their beds.

Following the couple's arrests, more horrific details emerged about the abuse that took place inside their home.

Investigators described a home life where children regularly had their hair pulled, were hit, and were thrown across rooms. Louise Turpin allegedly threw a child down the stairs and delayed medical treatment.

On another occasion, she forced a daughter to stand in the corner of a bathroom as punishment for playing with a Barbie doll. The malnourished girl became dizzy after two hours and fractured her jaw after falling to the ground, investigators say. A sister tried to alert Louise Turpin to her sibling’s condition, but the mother chastised her for interrupting a phone call.

Once they got the girl to a hospital, Louise Turpin allegedly advised her to tell doctors that she injured herself after slipping on water, according to prosecutors.

The couple initially faced nearly 50 counts each related to the abuse of most of their children. But on Feb. 22, they pleaded guilty to one count of torture, four counts of false imprisonment, six counts of cruelty to a dependent adult and three counts of willful child cruelty.

The siblings, who were between the ages of 2 and 29 in January 2018, have been kept out of the public eye as details of their abuse emerged over the past year. Even in court, a judge ordered they not be photographed or recorded on video.

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This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'House of horrors': California couple sentenced to life in prison for torturing their children