Turpin’s siblings are seeking a ‘shocking’ settlement from foster childcare providers after they were allegedly abused in a horrific new home, following their ordeal in their parents’ ‘house of horrors’.
Their story shocked the nation in 2018 when Jordan Turpin, then 17, escaped her horrific family home from a bedroom window, leaving police to find her 12 siblings chained, malnourished and abused.
Six of the minor siblings were sent to a foster home, where they suffered a heartbreaking “double trauma” as they were abused again by their foster parents, according to their lawyer Elan Zektser.
“Some children will tell you that what they experienced in foster care was even worse than what they experienced at the hands of their parents,” Zektser told the newspaper. American sun.
Now, six years after their escape, Zektser said he hopes the lawsuits filed in July 2022 against Riverside County and ChildNet, a foster family, will recover a “shocking” amount of money.
The Turpin family made headlines in 2018 after thirteen siblings were rescued from their parents’ “house of horrors” in Perris, California, where they were forced to live in horrific conditions.
Six of the siblings, who were minors at the time, were then placed in foster care under Marcelino and Rosa Olguin (pictured at their arraignment last December), who are now accused of child abuse against multiple foster children.
Elan Zektser, a lawyer for some of the siblings, said he is seeking a “shocking” settlement to atone for the systemic failings affecting the Turpins, adding: “The best way to bring about change can be brought through the wallet’
In the years since they fled their prison-like home, the Turpin siblings have struggled to come to terms with their new reality and find daily tasks challenging.
Despite the abuse they allegedly suffered at the hands of their foster family, Zektser blamed their parents – David and Louise, both now serving life sentences – for their ongoing adjustment problems.
He continued, “What kills me most is that when they were in the Turpin house, they were told that they didn’t deserve to be like everyone else, that they were bad children, bad people – that’s what their parents imposed on them. .
“And then the foster family used that against them and exacerbated those feelings by telling them, ‘Nobody wants you, look what your parents did, they were right, you’re nothing.’
“So when you have enough people in your life telling you that you are nobody and nothing and don’t deserve what everyone else has in life, it has a profound effect on your psyche.”
The attorney said the siblings are doing well “all things considered” but said “some of them are still going through a very difficult time.”
The thirteen siblings were between the ages of 2 and 29 when their ordeal finally ended six years ago. However, their malnourished condition initially led police to believe they were all minors.
Harrowing footage captured the moment Jordan was able to call 911, where she warned: “My two little sisters are now chained up.”
Jordan crawled out a window and called police on a cell phone in January 2018. She said she walked on the street because she didn’t know how to use a sidewalk.
The Turpins were found in their family home (pictured) in Perris, California, in January 2018, after one of the siblings crawled out of a window and called police on a cell phone.
Jordan was seen in chilling footage after her escape as she struggled to speak to an officer, before revealing: ‘My two little sisters are now chained up’
David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to 14 counts of torture and other abuse in 2019 and were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. They will be eligible for parole in 21 years
David and Louise Turpin – now serving a life sentence – regularly beat and restrained their children, fed them only once a day and allowed them to shower only once a year
Officers searched the filthy house and discovered that the situation was much worse, as the children had been subjected to years of abuse and sadistic rules.
This included only showering once a year, being limited to one meal per day, and almost completely cutting off communications with the outside world.
David and Louise would later plead guilty to fourteen charges of sickening abuse, including a charge of torture, and are both serving life sentences.
After a stint in the hospital, the six minor siblings were placed in foster care by Riverside County and ChildNet, with the home run by Marcelino Olguin, his wife Rosa and their daughter Lennys.
Zektser’s hope for a ‘shocking’ settlement amount stems from the doubling of the trauma they are said to have suffered at the hands of the foster family.
He said they were once again subjected to physical, emotional and sexual abuse, alleging that in a July 2022 lawsuit, the Olguins told the children to kill themselves because they were only targeted by their parents because they “didn’t were loved’.
Some of the harrowing claims included force-feeding the children until they vomited, before making them eat the vomit.
All three family members were arrested in January 2021, with Marcelino charged with thirteen counts, including lewd acts with a child and intentional child abuse.
Rosa and Lennys are both accused of promoting his behavior. All three have pleaded not guilty in their case, which is reportedly still pending.
Zektser said their case is one of the worst he has seen in his career, and believes only a “shocking” settlement will send a message.
‘The best way to bring about change is through the wallet. I really believe I saw it firsthand,” he told the American Sun.
“And so you know when a county gets hit with a huge lawsuit and has to pay a significant amount of money, they don’t want to do that again.
“Whether they all say they care about children or not about children, I know what they do care about is their financial status.”
After Jordan’s escape, details later emerged of how the Turpins beat and starved their children, chained them to beds and denied them basic hygiene such as showers.
The lawyer heartbreakingly added that the siblings have extremely low self-esteem, and “not everyone can go to a counselor and just get better.”
“The hardest thing for me is watching them all struggle to have any kind of self-worth – I think that’s the hardest thing for them.
‘No matter what you see on social media, having a sense of self-worth is probably the hardest thing because then everything comes from the idea that you are worth it.
“For us it means we think you’re worth a relationship or a job, but for the Turpins they’re wondering if they’re worth having lunch.
“They struggle to feel worthy of even the most basic human needs. ‘Should I have lunch today? Am I selfish because I eat more than I used to?’
“These are the questions they have to ask themselves and it’s so sad.
‘And then all this stuff was incorporated into the foster home. It’s actually just shocking and disturbing.”