13 'malnourished' siblings, aged from 2-29, found chained up in home after teenager escaped
A 17-year-old girl escaped from the house and alerted police to the plight of her siblings.
Two parents have been arrested after Californian authorities discovered 13 "malnourished" siblings bound with chains and padlocks inside a house of horrors.
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, are charged with torture and child endangerment after the siblings, aged from two to 29, were found in a filthy home in Perris, around 35 miles east of Los Angeles.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said on Monday (15 January) the siblings "were being held captive inside the residence by her parents," some of them "bound with chains and padlocks".
Police say they were found in "dark and foul-smelling surroundings" in Muir Woods Road after a 17-year-old girl managed to escape from the address.
Early on Sunday morning, police were called from a mobile phone and a 17-year-old girl told officers that her 12 brothers and sisters were being held captive by her parents.
The force then interviewed the teenager, who they initially thought was 10-years-old as she was "slightly emaciated".
They then visited the home and rescued a dozen starving young people who were chained inside the property.
"Further investigation revealed 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 restrained in that manner," the department said. "The victims appeared to be malnourished and very dirty."
Of the 13 victims, seven were between the age of 18 and 29, and they are now being treated at Corona Regional Medical Center in Corona, authorities said.
The six children, including the 17-year-old who escaped, are being treated at the Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley.
David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin have been charged with torture and child endangerment and taken to the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, and bail was set at $9m (£6.5m).
