Turpin children latest – Jordan and siblings in family home ‘faced MORE abuse and starvation after escape’

MOTHER TAUNTED KIDS WITH TOYS AND FOOD

Mom Louise Turpin racked up huge credit card debt and hoarded children’s clothes, games, and toys which she would never give to the children.

While their parents binged on fast food, and taunted them with freshly baked pumpkin pies which they were forbidden to touch, Jennifer says the children ate once a day – getting a peanut butter sandwich, a frozen burrito or chips.

When they were eventually rescued, the children were so malnourished that they were all assumed to be under 18, although seven were adults.

An 11-year-old child was so malnourished that her arm circumference was the equivalent of a 4-and-a-half month old baby, investigators said.

JORDAN MEETS WITH POLICE OFFICER WHO ‘SAVED ALL OF US’

Jordan met up with the police officer who found her waiting outside on the day she escaped and thanked him again.

She said: “I always talk about you and stuff. I told all my siblings the story more than once. You saved all of us.

The officer responded by saying: “You did the hard part, you did the scary party.”

JENNIFER DREAMS OF BECOMING CHRISTIAN POP ARTIST

Jennifer Turpin told ABC’s Diane Sawyer she “daydreams of becoming a Christian pop artist.”

She revealed her favorite song to be Kelly Clarkson’s Broken & Beautiful.

Jordan Turpin said she “loves doing TikToks ” and “loves to learn.”

She has already graduated high school in just one year and is now taking college classes.

Aside from their life dreams, what matters to them the most is getting to see their brothers and sisters.

‘SHE IS A LITERAL HERO’

Viewers of the ABC 20/20 special have praised Jordan’s bravery.

One described her in a tweet as “a literal HERO to all of her siblings.”

WHAT HAS LOUISE TURPIN’S YOUNGER SISTER SAID?

Elizabeth Flores, Louise’s younger sister, said: “I actually didn’t know anything. I haven’t seen them since 2010.”

“We were all raised up in a strict Christian home,” she told author John Glatt, for his book The Family Next Door.

Elizabeth recalled David and Louise being extremely strict with their kids.

“They had to ask permission to go to the bathroom. They had to ask permission to eat.”

“We thought [Louise] had the perfect life,” said her half-brother Billy Robinette Jr.

WHEN WERE THE TURPINS SENTENCED?

In February 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse of their children.

They admitted to 14 counts that included cruelty toward all but their toddler daughter, and imprisoning the children in a house festering with filth and reeking of human waste.

The guilty pleas were important to spare the children from testifying, though they were allowed to speak at the sentencing if they choose, said Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin.

In April 2019 a judge sentenced the pair to 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 22 years.

ABUSE JUSTIFIED BY BIBLE

After moving to a more isolated home in Rio Vista, Texas, when Jennifer was 11, the couple had more children and the neglect turned to physical abuse.

The evil couple would quote the Bible to justify the frequent beatings.

“They loved to point out things in Deuteronomy, saying that, ‘We have the right to do this to you.’ … that they had the right to even kill us if we didn’t listen,” she said.

Dad David Turpin used belts and sticks to whip the children. Jennifer recalled one moment when she said her father picked her up, feet off the floor, and slammed her into a wall.

“I knew he [was] saying that I was the devil,” she said. “I’m just looking at him like, ‘what did I do?’”

JANE DOE NO. 4’S WORDS OF HOPE

One daughter, identified as Jane Doe No.4, said her parents had taken “her whole life away”, but she was reclaiming it, PEOPLE reports.

She said: “They almost changed me but I realized what was happening and I immediately did what I could to not become like them.”

The unnamed daughter said she’s a fighter and she’s “shooting through life like a rocket.”

LOUISE TURPIN ‘CHOKED’ JORDAN TURPIN AFTER DISCOVERING BIEBER VIDEOS

“He was like, ‘This isn’t right, you should call the cops’ … I was so happy to hear him say that because I was like, ‘I was right. I was right that this situation is bad,'” Jordan continued.

When Louise found out about the Bieber videos, she attacked Jordan and began choking her.

“I thought I was going to die that day,” she said.

“After that whole day happened, I kept having nightmares that… she was going to kill me.”

That’s when Jordan began planning her escape.

‘I DON’T KNOW WHERE WE WOULD BE IF WE DIDN’T WATCH JUSTIN BIEBER’

The Turpin children’s only view of the outside world was the occasional film they watched in secret when their parents were out.

In 2015, Jordan found an old smartphone and discovered Justin Bieber’s music videos.

“I don’t know where we would be if we didn’t watch Justin Bieber,” she said.

“I started realizing that there is a different whole world out there… I wanted to experience that.”

After watching more videos, she began posting videos of herself singing on social media and got a response from one of her posts, asking why she was always inside and awake at night.

“I did tell him that I didn’t really go to school, and I wasn’t allowed to go in the backyard or front yard and that I’m always kept inside, and I told him how we eat and how we’re not allowed to get out of bed,” she said. 

JUSTIN BIEBER INSPIRED JORDAN TURPIN

In a clip released ahead of the interview, Jordan Turpin told Diane Sawyer that watching Justin Bieber videos inspired her.

“After secretly watching @JustinBieber videos, she says she was inspired to make a plan to escape,” 20/20 teased on Twitter.

‘THEY ARE MOVING ON WITH THEIR LIVES’

At the time of their rescue, Child Protective Services (CPS) and Adult Protective Services (APS) were called and the Turpin siblings were given food and drink after they were found emaciated in their home.

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham told People in 2020: “They’re all happy.”

“They are moving on with their lives.”.

JENNIFER’S ‘FIRST MOMENT OF REAL FREEDOM’

Jennifer Turpin told Diane Sawyer that her “first moment of real freedom” was hearing music and doing a little dance in the hospital on January 14, 2018.

JENNIFER REACHED A BREAKING POINT

Jennifer told Sawyer she did run away once but was so worried about her siblings she returned only a day later.

In the leadup to gaining their freedom, Jennifer said her parents started chaining her siblings to the bed, sometimes for months on end.

It wasn’t until Jordan was nearly choked to death that the possibility of escape started to take form.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TURPIN CHILDREN, PART TWO

The kids had to sleep during the day and were active for only a few hours at night.

The Turpins imprisoned the children in a house that appeared neatly kept outside, but was actually filled with filth and reeked of human waste inside.

Finally, cops discovered the kids in the dark and foul-smelling house about 70 miles east of Los Angeles on January 14, 2018.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TURPIN CHILDREN?

David and Louise Turpin made headlines back in 2018 after it was revealed they imprisoned and abused their children.

The kids had been chained to filthy beds and forced to live in squalor for years. They were fed only once a day, allowed to shower just once a year, and were deprived of toys and games.

Their parents starved them to the point that they stopped growing and the children suffered from muscle shrinkage.

The kids lived on bologna and peanut butter sandwiches while their parents ate take-out, according to People.

JORDAN TURPIN STRUGGLES ‘TO GET FOOD’

During the interview with Dian Sawyer, which was recorded this summer, 21-year-old Jordan Turpin said: “Right now, I don’t really have a way to get food right now.

“I also don’t really have a place to go right now, but I have my older siblings helping me out.”

Jordan is currently in a school program that provides temporary housing.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin told Sawyer that most of the Turpin siblings are still “living in squalor.”

MOTHER LOUISE WAS PRONE TO MOOD SWINGS, SAYS JENNIFER

Police rushed to the Turpin family’s home on January 14, 2018, after receiving a 911 call from Jordan Turpin that they were held captive and some siblings were chained to their beds.

In the exclusive interview with Sawyer, Jennifer said she remembers her homelife changed when her parents moved to Fort Worth, Texas, and eventually the house became overrun with dirt, trash, and mold.

Her mother, Louise, became prone to mood swings and would continuously lash out at the children for something as small as asking a question.

“I never knew which side I was going to get of her,” she said.

“If I was going to ask her a question, [is] she going to call me stupid or something… and then yank me across the floor or [is] she going to be nice and answer my question.”

JENNIFER: WE LIVED ‘IN HOUSES PILED WITH TRASH’

As the years went on, her parents moved on from neglect to full-on abuse, and Jennifer Turpin said they were pulled from school and only taught to remember what grade they were supposed to be in, in case someone asked.

The years she did go to school, from first to third grade, Jennife said she wore the same clothes every day, and kids didn’t want to be near her.

“I probably smelled,” Jennifer said. “But I didn’t realize at the time I smelled, but that stench clings to you… because we would literally live in houses piled with trash.”

TURPIN PARENTS JUSTIFIED BEATINGS WITH BIBLE QUOTES

In the exclusive interview with Diane Sawyer, Jeniffer revealed that her evil parents would quote the Bible to justify the frequent beatings.

“They loved to point out things in Deuteronomy, saying that, ‘We have the right to do this to you.’ … that they had the right to even kill us if we didn’t listen,” she said.

Dad David Turpin used belts and sticks to whip the children. Jennifer recalled one moment when she said her father picked her up, feet off the floor, and slammed her into a wall.

“I knew he [was] saying that I was the devil,” she said. “I’m just looking at him like, ‘what did I do?’”

‘MOTHER’ CHOKED HER

“When mother and father would leave, that’s when I would sneak into the bathroom and make my videos and put them out,” Jordan said about the footage of herself singing.

Jordan would record herself singing, usually in the bathroom.

She told Diane Sawyer that a viewer once messaged her asked a few questions. Their conversation prompted her to realize she should seek help.

Jordan also said her mother once caught her secretly watching a Justin Bieber music video and choked her as punishment.

‘MALNOURISHED AND VERY DIRTY’

When the Turpin children were rescued, cops found kids shackled to their beds in “dark and foul-smelling surrounds”.

A statement from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said: “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.”

Neighbors told local media they had no idea there were children in the house, while others said they only saw them at night.

‘MY WHOLE BODY WAS SHAKING’

The 20/20 special began with the 911 call that led the Turpin siblings to safety.

“They pull out hair. They yank our hair. My two little sisters now are chained up,” Jordan was heard saying on the 911 call.

Four years later, she recounted the moment to Diane Sawyer.

She explained: “My whole body was shaking and when I was still on the phone I remember I couldn’t really dial 911 because … I was trying to dial 911 but I couldn’t even get my thumbs to press the buttons because I was shaking so bad.

“But I was trying to calm down so I could do it. And then I finally pressed it and they answered. I literally never talked to someone on the phone.”

CHILLING 911 CALL

Jordan Turpin was the one who ultimately called 911 and reported the abuse she and her siblings faced.

Speaking with a dispatcher, she said about her life and parents David and Louise Turpin: “I just ran away from home because I live in a family of 15. OK? Can you hear me? And we have abusing parents. Did you hear that?”

When the dispatcher asked her to describe how her parents were abusing her and her siblings, she said: “OK, They hit us. They like to throw us across the room. They pull out hair. They yank out our hair.”

“I have two… My two little sisters right now are chained up.”

She said her parents would “literally kill me” if they found out she had escaped.

HOW OLD ARE THE TURPIN CHILDREN?

When authorities first found the children, they ranged from two to 29 years old.

At this time, it remains unclear how old they are now as not much information about the children has been released.