On January 14, 2018, seventeen-year-old Jordan Turpin climbed through a bedroom window in Perris, California, and called 911 on a deactivated cellphone. What she reported brought deputies to the home she had just escaped. Inside were her siblings, including adults, living under their parents’ control. The call carried a private history of abuse beyond the walls of the house.
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Editorial note: The written article below has been fact-checked and updated. The retained audio or video may reflect an earlier version.
The House Looked Ordinary From the Street
The Turpin family case is a story about the distance between a residential address and what authorities eventually discovered behind its door. David and Louise Turpin had thirteen children. When deputies intervened, the siblings ranged from two to twenty-nine. Their ages matter: this was not simply a household of young children awaiting adulthood. Some had reached adulthood while still living in profound isolation.
The Riverside County district attorney’s account describes years of food deprivation, physical violence and restrictions on movement. Three siblings were chained to beds when the case came to authorities’ attention. David had filed homeschooling affidavits, but investigators found that the children had received little meaningful education. The parents’ claim to be providing care had concealed conditions requiring urgent intervention.
Jordan Turpin and the Escape That Changed Everything
Jordan got out through a window. She used a phone to seek help. Deputies responded, arrested the parents and arranged immediate care for the siblings. Her actions transformed abuse within a family into a criminal investigation.
It is tempting to make an escape the last chapter of a story like this. Here it was the beginning of another difficult chapter. Leaving an abusive home does not automatically supply education, stable housing, trusted caregivers or the ability to navigate unfamiliar institutions. The people who answered that first call inherited responsibilities that would continue long after the news crews left.
Timeline of the Turpin Family Case
- January 14, 2018: Jordan escapes and calls 911; deputies intervene at the Perris home.
- February 22, 2019: David and Louise Turpin each plead guilty to fourteen felonies.
- April 19, 2019: Each receives a sentence of twenty-five years to life.
- 2022: A county-commissioned review examines the services provided after the rescue and identifies systemic shortcomings.
- 2024: Foster father Marcelino Olguin is sentenced to seven years for abusing children entrusted to his care.
What the Court Could Settle
The parents’ guilty pleas included torture, abuse and false imprisonment. At sentencing, some siblings addressed the court or submitted statements. Their responses were individual, not a single story that a writer can fairly assign to all thirteen. KESQ’s courtroom reporting records both pain and expressions of continuing attachment to their parents.
Twenty-five years to life means a possibility of parole after the minimum term, not a promise of release. The sentence established criminal accountability. It could not, by itself, determine what adequate support for each sibling would look like.
Freedom Did Not End the Harm
The 2022 Larson review, commissioned by Riverside County, examined child welfare and adult conservatorship services. Its discussion of prevention describes a family largely outside the view of professionals who might have recognized abuse. Its broader recommendations address how public systems coordinate care and protect vulnerable people. That is more specific than claiming that every neighbor knew, or that nobody could have noticed.
Six siblings were placed with the Olguin family. Subsequent criminal proceedings exposed abuse in that placement. A later civil settlement totaled $13.5 million: $2.25 million from Riverside County and $11.25 million from ChildNet. Both denied wrongdoing in the agreement, according to AP’s reporting. The settlement should not be confused with a civil verdict.
The lasting question is therefore larger than how Jordan escaped. It is what happened after help arrived, and whether the institutions responsible for protection provided it. Her call opened the door. Keeping the siblings safe required much more than opening it once.
FAQ
How were the Turpin siblings found?
Jordan Turpin escaped through a window and called 911. Deputies then responded to the family’s Perris home.
What happened to their parents?
Both pleaded guilty in 2019 and received twenty-five years to life in prison.
Did all the siblings have the same experience afterward?
No. Their circumstances and needs differed. The subsequent review, criminal proceedings and civil settlement document serious failures affecting their care; they do not justify treating every sibling’s experience as identical.
Research Sources
The following resources were consulted to verify and update this article.
- Riverside County DA: 2018–2019 biennial report — Official account of the escape, investigation, guilty pleas and sentences (Turpin case section).
- KESQ: sentencing coverage — April 19 sentencing and individual statements made or submitted in court.
- Riverside County: Larson review — County-commissioned examination of care services and prevention recommendations.
- AP: foster father sentenced — Seven-year sentence in 2024 and the abusive foster placement.
- AP: civil settlement — Settlement amount, allocation and defendants’ denial of wrongdoing.
- Riverside County DA: February 22, 2019 plea announcement — Fourteen counts per parent and twelve charged victims; clarifies an inconsistent count in the later biennial report.
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