The harrowing tale of the Turpin family sent shockwaves across the globe in early 2018. When 17-year-old Jordan Turpin bravely escaped the confines of her family’s seemingly ordinary home in Perris, California, she unleashed a torrent of horrifying truths about the abuse perpetrated by her parents, David and Louise Turpin, upon their thirteen children for years within the walls of what became infamously known as the “Turpin Family House.”
The Turpin family house was not just a home; it was a prison, a “House of Horrors” in the truest sense. Inside this dwelling, the Turpin children endured relentless physical, verbal, and emotional torment. They were routinely chained to beds, starved, and denied basic freedoms. As the appalling details of their prolonged suffering emerged, a collective question echoed: how could parents inflict such cruelty on their own offspring within their own home?
The nightmare began to unravel on January 18, 2018, when Jordan Turpin, then a teenager, mustered the courage to flee the Turpin family house and dial 911. In a chilling call that reverberated through the nation, she confided to the operator, “My parents are abusive. My two little sisters right now are chained up … they’re chained up to their bed.”
Her desperate plea continued, revealing the extent of their ordeal, “I live in a family of 15 people and our parents are abusive. We live in filth. Sometimes I wake up and can’t breathe because of how dirty the house is.”
The subsequent investigation into the Turpin family house exposed the full spectrum of David and Louise’s depravity. Their victims, ranging in age from 2 to 29 at the time of rescue, were rescued but faced further trauma as some were placed in foster care where abuse continued. Ultimately, David and Louise were held accountable, convicted on 14 felony counts each, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Since their liberation from the “House of Horrors,” the Turpin siblings have embarked on a path of healing and rebuilding their lives. In 2022, Jordan Turpin established her own independent living space in Southern California, affirming to PEOPLE her enduring bond with her siblings, stating they remained “very close.”
“After everything that happened, I’m so protective over each one. Nothing could ever break our bond,” she emphasized, highlighting the resilience forged in the face of unimaginable adversity within the Turpin family house.
From the depths of the “House of Horrors” to their present-day resilience, this is the comprehensive account of the Turpin family and the infamous Turpin family house.
Unmasking the Turpin Family “House of Horrors”
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The Turpin Family. Courtesy Billy Lambert
The Turpin family saga reached a critical juncture on January 14, 2018, when Jordan Turpin, exhibiting remarkable bravery, escaped the confines of her family’s Perris, California residence – the now infamous Turpin family house – and contacted authorities. Police intervention unveiled the horrifying reality: parents David and Louise had subjected their 13 children to years of escalating abuse, each child suffering to varying degrees within the walls of their home.
Subsequent investigations into the Turpin family house revealed a litany of horrors. The Turpin parents implemented severe food restrictions, often leaving their children to fend for themselves in the house for extended periods. They imprisoned, beat, and strangled their children, turning the Turpin family house into a site of torture. Upon rescue, many of the children were found to be severely malnourished, unable to communicate effectively, and unfamiliar with the role of law enforcement.
Jordan’s courageous 911 call became a pivotal moment in exposing the atrocities within the Turpin family house. She recounted to the operator, “I just ran away from home. and we have abusing parents. They hit us. They like to throw us across the room. They pull out our hair. They yank out our hair. My two little sisters right now are chained up.”
Jordan’s escape plan, meticulously crafted over two years with some of her siblings, was accelerated by the family’s impending move from California to Oklahoma. “My plan was, okay, while we’re on the trip and in a crowd, I’m going to sneak out and call 911,” Jordan disclosed to PEOPLE, detailing her initial strategy to escape the Turpin family house during the move.
However, her mother’s increasingly erratic behavior leading up to the move prompted Jordan to act sooner. Jordan recounted, “Mother was yelling and throwing things, saying, ‘When we move to Oklahoma, I’m gonna chain all your …,’ and she said a really bad word. She said, ‘You can just sit in your …’ and she said the ‘S-word.’ It got really, really scary.” This escalation within the Turpin family house forced Jordan to expedite her escape, fearing for her and her siblings’ lives.
“The night I left was not expected. I was pushed to that point. I literally thought we were gonna die,” Jordan chillingly recalled to PEOPLE, underscoring the dire circumstances that compelled her to flee the Turpin family house and seek help.
The Grisly Details of the Turpin Family House
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The Turpin Family house. Sandy Huffaker/Getty
The Turpin family house became synonymous with the term “House of Horrors,” a label bestowed upon it by both authorities and the horrified public. Within its walls, the children endured systematic torture. Punishments were meted out for trivial infractions, such as “playing with water” – washing hands beyond the wrists – resulting in being chained to beds for extended periods. They were often forced to remain in their own waste for hours, and were allowed to shower only once a year, highlighting the appalling conditions within the Turpin family house.
The Turpin parents maintained a facade of normalcy, masking the horrors within the Turpin family house by enforcing a nocturnal lifestyle. The children slept during the day and were awake at night. Both parents operated from the home, having registered their property as a private K-12 school with the California Department of Education, a deceptive tactic to further isolate their children and conceal the abuse within the Turpin family house.
The cruelty within the Turpin family house extended beyond the children. The family’s eldest daughter was subjected to a particularly gruesome act of emotional and psychological torture. She was forced to watch her pet cat be mauled to death by feral dogs as punishment for taking food from the pantry without permission. Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham described the horrific scene to PEOPLE, “She was caught stealing or taking some food from the fridge or pantry, and her mom told her to bring her cat and so Mom put the cat outside, and made her daughter watch as these dogs literally ate the cat in front of her, tore apart the cat and killed it.” This incident, occurring when the girl was approximately 9 years old, illustrates the extreme sadism prevalent within the Turpin family house.
Adding to the atmosphere of torment within the Turpin family house, David and Louise intentionally neglected basic household maintenance to inflict further distress. When smoke alarm batteries ran low, they allowed the devices to beep incessantly rather than replacing them. Beecham explained, “There’s that annoying beep, that loud beep. That’s what you heard all throughout the house. The psychiatrist explained that’s one mechanism that torturers would institute to try to keep control by using sounds.” This constant auditory assault was a calculated method of psychological manipulation within the Turpin family house.
Food and gifts, typically symbols of love and celebration, were weaponized as instruments of torture within the Turpin family house. David and Louise would ostentatiously display pies and other tempting treats in front of their starving children, explicitly forbidding them from touching or consuming any of it. Similarly, the Turpin family house was filled with unopened Christmas presents each year, taunting the children with unattainable joy, further emphasizing the psychological abuse within the Turpin family house.
Jordan Turpin’s Daring Escape from the “House of Horrors”
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Jordan Turpin. ABC
In a testament to her incredible courage and resilience, Jordan Turpin, along with her 13-year-old sister, executed a daring escape from the Turpin family house in January 2018. Crawling through a window, they initially fled together, but fear compelled the younger sister to return to the house. Jordan, however, pressed on, armed with a deactivated cell phone that had been part of her two-year escape plan devised with her siblings. Using the phone, she bravely dialed 911, setting in motion the events that would ultimately dismantle the “House of Horrors.”
Upon arriving at the Turpin family house, authorities were confronted with a scene of unimaginable squalor and abuse. They discovered three children chained to their beds and the remaining siblings confined to small, foul-smelling rooms within the Turpin family house. David and Louise Turpin were immediately arrested and subsequently charged with a multitude of felonies, including 12 counts of torture, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, six counts of child abuse, and 12 counts of false imprisonment – all stemming from the horrors perpetrated within the Turpin family house.
Justice and Accountability for the Turpin Parents
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David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin. Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (2)
In the aftermath of the raid on the Turpin family house, Deputy District Attorney Beecham offered insights into the parents’ disturbing lack of remorse and comprehension of their crimes. He recounted to PEOPLE that Louise Turpin appeared shockingly detached from the gravity of the situation. “She wrote an apology letter basically saying, ‘Sorry I chained you up. It won’t happen again. I’ll be a better mother.’ She was just very naïve to the whole thing,” Beecham revealed, highlighting Louise’s delusional perception of the abuse within the Turpin family house.
“She was just thinking that she needed parenting classes and that would be the end of it. David, not so much. I think he knew the writing was on the wall early on,” Beecham added, suggesting a disparity in the parents’ awareness of the legal repercussions of their actions within the Turpin family house.
Both David and Louise Turpin faced a barrage of charges, encompassing multiple counts of torture, false imprisonment, and child abuse. David Turpin also faced an additional charge of a lewd act on a child under 14. Furthermore, David was charged with perjury after a re-examination of affidavits he had submitted to the California Department of Education, in which he falsely claimed the children were enrolled in a legitimate private school operating within the Turpin family house.
On February 22, 2019, David and Louise Turpin entered guilty pleas to 14 felony counts each, including cruelty to an adult dependent, child cruelty, torture, and false imprisonment. They were subsequently sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 22 years, marking a measure of justice for the victims of the Turpin family house.
Life After the “House of Horrors” for the Turpin Siblings
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Jennifer and Jordan Turpin on Good Morning America. ABC News / “Good Morning America”
Following their rescue from the Turpin family house, the youngest Turpin children were placed into foster care in California, intended to be a safe haven after years of abuse.
In November 2021, Jordan and her sister Jennifer bravely shared their harrowing experiences in an interview with Diane Sawyer for 20/20. They openly discussed the aftermath of the “House of Horrors,” with Jordan recounting the immense difficulty of making the life-altering 911 call that ultimately liberated her and her siblings from the Turpin family house. “My whole body was shaking. I couldn’t really dial 911 because …” she shared, conveying the terror and anxiety she faced even in the act of seeking help.
Jordan also revealed the extent of their isolation within the Turpin family house, telling Sawyer, “I was actually on the road because I didn’t even know about the sidewalks. You’re supposed to be on the sidewalk, but I’d never been out there.” This simple detail highlighted the profound deprivation and lack of basic life experiences suffered by the children within the confines of the Turpin family house.
Days after the 20/20 special, Jennifer and Jordan appeared on Good Morning America, where they spoke about the overwhelming public response to their story. Jennifer expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support, stating she had received “hundreds of DMs” and “all the love and support I’m getting, it’s overwhelming, but it’s awesome.”
Jordan further revealed her aspirations to become a motivational speaker. She articulated her hope to transform her trauma into a source of positive change, saying, “My whole life it has been so hard for me to understand why everything has happened, but if I can use what I went through to make a difference in the world, then I think that can heal me.”
However, the 20/20 special also exposed a secondary layer of systemic failure. Several Turpin siblings were subjected to further abuse within the foster care system meant to protect them. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin expressed his outrage in the special, stating, “[It’s] unimaginable to me that we could have the very worst case of child abuse that I’ve ever seen, maybe one of the worst in California history, and that we would then not be able to get it together to give them basic needs, basic necessities.” This revelation highlighted a profound systemic breakdown in the care provided to the Turpin siblings after their escape from the Turpin family house.
In July 2022, six of the Turpin siblings filed lawsuits against the foster parents who inflicted further harm upon them. Their legal actions targeted Riverside County, ChildNet Youth and Family Services, and the Foster Family Network, seeking accountability for the abuse suffered in foster care, compounding the trauma that began in the Turpin family house.
The allegations against the foster parents, Marcelino and Rosa Olguin, detailed horrific abuse including “grabbing and fondling their buttocks, legs and breasts, kissing them on the mouth and making sexually suggestive comments” as well as physical violence such as “pulling their hair, hitting them with a belt and striking their heads.” This secondary abuse underscored the profound failures in the system designed to protect vulnerable children after their escape from the Turpin family house.
In September 2024, the Olguins and their daughter Lennys entered into plea agreements with prosecutors. Marcelino pled guilty to numerous counts of lewd acts on children, false imprisonment, and injuring a child. Rosa and Lennys pled guilty to willful child cruelty, false imprisonment, and intimidating a witness. The subsequent sentencing saw Marcelino receive seven years in prison, while Rosa and Lennys were each sentenced to four years of probation, offering a measure of legal recourse for the foster care abuse endured by the Turpin siblings.
Jordan Turpin, a prominent voice among the siblings, has concentrated on healing from the dual traumas of the Turpin family house and subsequent foster care abuse. She established a new home in 2023, sharing it with her pets. In November of that year, she spoke with PEOPLE about her journey of healing, acknowledging the challenges of the past year and her growing understanding of mental health and its impact on her recovery from the horrors of the Turpin family house and beyond.
In October 2024, Jennifer Turpin celebrated a joyous milestone, marrying her husband Aron in a gothic cemetery wedding in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Her siblings were present to support her, signifying the enduring bonds forged amidst adversity and the ongoing journey of healing and rebuilding lives shattered by the Turpin family house. She shared photos from her unique wedding celebration on Instagram.
The Unbreakable Bond Forged in the “House of Horrors”
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Jeanetta Turpin, Jennifer Turpin, and Jordan Turpin. Jordan Turpin Instagram
Remarkably, despite the unspeakable horrors they endured within the Turpin family house, or perhaps because of them, the Turpin siblings share an exceptionally strong and resilient bond today. In July 2022, Jordan articulated the depth of their connection, “We all look out for each other. We all have this super big bond. We have our inside jokes, and we’re all very, very close.”
She further emphasized her protective instincts towards her siblings, stating, “After everything that happened, I’m so protective over each one. Nothing could ever break our bond. I always try and stay strong and positive for them.” This unwavering solidarity speaks to the enduring strength of the human spirit and the power of familial connection in overcoming even the most devastating experiences, such as those endured within the Turpin family house.
Earlier in 2022, all 13 siblings experienced a moment of shared joy and normalcy, attending a Justin Bieber concert together. Jordan, who had found solace in Bieber’s music during her captivity in the Turpin family house, described the experience as surreal and deeply emotional. “We were jumping, screaming and even got emotional. I got to experience it with my siblings and it didn’t feel real,” she recounted, highlighting a poignant moment of healing and shared joy amidst the long shadow of the “House of Horrors.”
