LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES (NT): A California couple has been arrested in the charge of torture after authorities found that on Monday their 13 malnourished children were held imprisoned in their home, with some beds provided in the dark.Authorities set bail at $9 million for the parents after a 17-year-old girl escaped the house on Sunday and called 911 using a cellphone found inside.
She was so "emaciated" that officers said they originally thought she was only 10 years old.
The 13 victims who had been held jailed at the Perris, California home range in age from two to 29, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said in a statement. They were not named.
Further investigation disclosed that several children shackled to their beds with chains and padlocks in dark and foul-smelling surroundings, but the parents were unable to immediately provide a logical reason why their children were contained in that manner," the statement added.
Deputies located what they believed to be 12 children inside the house, but were shocked to discover that seven of them were actually adults, ranging in age from 18 to 29. The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty.The parents, 57-year-old David Allen Turpin and 49-year-old Louise Anna Turpin, were arrested on torture and child endangerment charges.(NT)