# California couple charged with torture after police rescue 13 children. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724 "2018-01-16T01:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/21 "2018-01-17T01:38:14Z")
I’d like to see states pass laws where CPS was required to check up on homeschooled kids once a year if they weren’t taking any classes at a regular school. The point being that _someone_ outside the parents’ control and in a position of responsibility should be checking up on every kid at least that often. A lot of abuse can happen in a year, but it damn sure shouldn’t have an opportunity to go on _forever_. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/22 "2018-01-17T01:51:13Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’d like to see states pass laws where CPS was required to check up on homeschooled kids once a year if they weren’t taking any classes at a regular school. The point being that _someone_ outside the parents’ control and in a position of responsibility should be checking up on every kid at least that often. A lot of abuse can happen in a year, but it damn sure shouldn’t have an opportunity to go on _forever_. I have long believed that in one way or another the government should ascertain the well being of every child on an annual basis. Most of the time attendance at school would cover this, but if kids are home-schooled they are off that grid. At the same time I see how such requirements could backfire calamitously as the government oversteps it’s bounds on what the well being of child should be and what the state can do when they find it below par. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/23 "2018-01-17T03:29:39Z")
I can’t believe a doctor’s appt. didn’t catch them out. With that many kids someone was bound to have an earache, tonsillitis or a bad tooth. The oldest kid in his 20s, doesn’t make sense, somebody was not paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/24 "2018-01-17T04:03:12Z")
That picture of them renewing their vows, with their kids all around them in matching dresses, with their faces blurred out, is one of the creepiest images I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/25 "2018-01-17T04:09:28Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can’t believe a doctor’s appt. didn’t catch them out. With that many kids someone was bound to have an earache, tonsillitis or a bad tooth. The oldest kid in his 20s, doesn’t make sense, somebody was not paying attention. The doctor said the oldest, age 29, looked like a malnourished 15 year old. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/26 "2018-01-17T04:09:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can’t believe a doctor’s appt. didn’t catch them out. With that many kids someone was bound to have an earache, tonsillitis or a bad tooth. The oldest kid in his 20s, doesn’t make sense, somebody was not paying attention. Fair odds they never went to the doctor, sick, injured, or not. If they were, I imagine it was accompanied by some hair-raising threats. Remember, these kids, at least a lot of them, were _raised_ this way - they didn’t _know_ it was abnormal.\* \*Except maybe from TV - if they were allowed to watch much if any. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/27 "2018-01-17T04:13:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’d like to see states pass laws where CPS was required to check up on homeschooled kids once a year if they weren’t taking any classes at a regular school. The point being that _someone_ outside the parents’ control and in a position of responsibility should be checking up on every kid at least that often. A lot of abuse can happen in a year, but it damn sure shouldn’t have an opportunity to go on _forever_. The government needs probable cause to demand access to ones house and children. Just because social workers are involved doesn’t mean kids are safe. > **[Social Workers Charged in Gabriel Fernandez Child Abuse Case Plead Not Guilty](https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/gabriel-fernandez-child-abuse-death-social-workers/12825/)** > > Two former social workers and their supervisors, who are accused of failing to protect an 8 year old Palmdale boy from deadly abuse by his mother and then-boyfriend, pleaded not guilty Monday to child abuse and falsifying records. All four were... ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/28 "2018-01-17T04:57:15Z")
The females all appeared to have had the same hairstyle, and the males too. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/29 "2018-01-17T06:27:58Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can’t believe a doctor’s appt. didn’t catch them out. With that many kids someone was bound to have an earache, tonsillitis or a bad tooth. The oldest kid in his 20s, doesn’t make sense, somebody was not paying attention. You’re assuming these parents would ever take their kids to a doctor, no matter what the illness. That can be a false assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/30 "2018-01-17T06:36:28Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I can’t believe a doctor’s appt. didn’t catch them out. With that many kids someone was bound to have an earache, tonsillitis or a bad tooth. The oldest kid in his 20s, doesn’t make sense, somebody was not paying attention. You are assuming the kids would be taken to the doctor when they got sick. Tonsillitis is the only one you mention that would always require a doctor, and of my dozen cousins I’m the only one who have had it as a child. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/31 "2018-01-17T11:05:20Z")
And for today’s weird factoid: I used to be a contract engineer, and I have now worked in the same building\* with two evil people who chained their kids at home. This Turpin guy many years ago, and [this dude](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/11/13/Father-indicted-for-starving-13-year-old-son/6728690008400/). At least the kids survived this time. I recognize the name only, and confirmed this yesterday with former coworkers. I never interacted with either other than passing in the hall. \*Different decades, different places ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/32 "2018-01-17T17:00:54Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hanging is too good for these evil bastards. [Hanging’s too good for 'em.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXbIDwLeeEo) In actuality, I am opposed to capital punishment. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/33 "2018-01-17T19:34:56Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > 13 kids and visited Disneyland often? That would bankrupt Bill Gates! They may have [only gone once or twice](https://nypost.com/2018/01/16/inside-the-horror-house-couples-bizarre-disney-vacations/), despite how many times pictures were posted. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/34 "2018-01-17T20:31:29Z")
I swear to god those guys look really familiar, and as soon as I saw the picture the name Turpin jumped into my head. And I’m in Tarrant County too. Bet I knew these guys somehow. I can’t quite remember how, though. Maybe I sold them some eyeglasses back in the day, who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/35 "2018-01-17T20:51:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Yea I was wondering about that too. The Mother looked a little old to have a 2 year old. This is truly sickening. I am just gonna be so mad if it is some kinda religious order. I really am. I. Am. So. Sick. Of these parents doing these things to kids in the name of religion. I think you have this backwards. Religion is a very effective tool for seriously distrubed people to control others. In other words, if it turns out these people were religious, I would suspect it’s because it was to more effectively control their victims than because of a geunine faith. In other words, I don’t think religion is necessarily evil in and of itself, but it can facilitate evil like almost nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/36 "2018-01-17T21:47:52Z")
Oh, I know. It is just that crazy people use it as an excuse to abuse their own flesh and blood. And I, for one am really sick of hearing about it. If you have faith and believe in the Bible, good for you. But, if you go crazy and abuse your kids and chain them to beds and don’t feed them, you are the bad guy, not God or Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/37 "2018-01-18T00:56:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > It is not just homeschooling, it’s that added to religious stupidity and abuse. Those parents should be chained to cots and starved and dressed alike. They deserve exactly what they put those kids through. Sickening. > I bet there is sexual abuse there too. Absolutely agree, 100%. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/38 "2018-01-18T01:33:05Z")
The mother is 49. It is possible but difficult, for a 47 year old woman to have a baby, but it sure makes you wonder. In some jurisdictions, home-schooled kids are supposed to get standard tests every year. I imagine they would have caught something. How long has this been going on? I know they moved into their house in 2014. Where were they before. I guess all these questions will be answered eventually. According to the news, both parents have been charged with 9 counts each of child abuse and other charges. Why only 9? Why not 13? Or maybe a different set of charges for the kids past 18. Oh well, I would throw them in the clink and throw away the key. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/39 "2018-01-18T02:10:32Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I wonder if there were others who are missing? Presumably dead? This is just horrid. I was thinking this too and wonder how many poor children could of dies and are buried in the yard of god know where ! What I find very disturbing is none of the neighbors did anything when they saw all kind of strange things going on in the house ! No one thought there was anything wrong when every kids had arms as thin as toothpicks and white as a ghost and doing yard work in the middle of the night or marching in a line in the house all hours of the night ! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724/40 "2018-01-18T02:21:23Z")
In my area a child’s body was discovered under a tool shed in a mobile home park. It turned out that the child had lived and died entirely off the grid - there was no record of his birth or death, no school records, no doctor records… the neighbors were unaware of the couple who owned the shed having had a child. After a bunch of detective work (including DNA sampling, apparently) it was determined the child was the offspring of the two owners and had probably lived to be around 7 or so before his death. So this sort of thing probably goes on a lot more often than we’re aware of, because clearly it is possible to hide this sort of thing for years and years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/california-couple-charged-with-torture-after-police-rescue-13-children/806724.md?page=3)