CCTV footage shows moment Turpin children escape from the 'house of horrors'. Source: 9 News
David Turpin is facing life in prison for the abhorrent torture of 12 of his children that saw him and his wife shackle them to their beds, yet he still has hope they will all forgive him.
Elizabeth Flores, the sister of David's wife Louise, revealed details of the private conversation she had with the monster dad to US media outlet, RadarOnline.
During the conversation, David reportedly told Ms Flores that he hoped he could still have a relationship with his children and that they would come and visit him in prison.
Ms Flores claimed he told her, "I hope the kids can forgive me."
"He kept hoping the kids would come visit him in jail," she said. "He was telling me that no matter what happened with him, he hoped that he still had a relationship with his kids."
Louise Turpin wiped away tears during court where she and her husband pleaded guilty to charges of abuse and torture. Photo / AP
Earlier this month both David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges relating to the horrific abuse and torture of 12 of their 13 children.
They pleaded guilty to all 14 charges, including child and adult abuse, child endangerment, false imprisonment and torture.
David, 57, and Louise, 50, are set to be sentenced to life in prison on April 13, with neither being eligible for parole for at least 25 years.
The guilty pleas mean the children won't have to go through the trauma of having to testify at a criminal trial and will likely mean both their parents will die in prison.
"The defendants ruined lives, so I think it's just and fair that the sentence be equivalent to first-degree murder," Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said after the couple entered their pleas.
The Turpins were found to have abused 12 of their 13 children. Photo / Supplied
HOW THEY WERE CAUGHT
The couple was arrested in January 2018 after their 17-year-old daughter jumped out a window of their home and called 911.
She pleaded with a dispatcher for help, saying two of her younger sisters and a brother were chained to a bed.
"They will wake up at night and they will start crying and they wanted me to call somebody," she said in a high-pitched voice.
"I wanted to call y'all so y'all can help my sisters."
Police who arrived at the address in a middle-class section of the city of Perris, 96 kilometres southeast of Los Angeles, found a house of horrors.
The children, aged two to 29, were so malnourished and underweight that police thought they were all minors.
None of the children had bathed for months and the house reeked of human waste.
They described being beaten, starved and put in cages.
Two girls had been hastily released from their chains, but a 22-year-old son remained shackled.
The brother told police he and his siblings had been suspected of stealing food and being disrespectful.
There children were severely malnourished when they were discovered. Photo / Supplied
David Turpin had worked as an engineer for Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
Louise Turpin was listed as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing. Although the parents filed reports with the state that they homeschooled their children, the oldest child only completed the third grade.
Some children suffered from severe malnutrition, stunted growth and muscle wasting, including an 11-year-old girl who had arms the size of an infant.
All the children were hospitalised immediately after they were discovered and have not spoken publicly.
The seven adult children are all living together, attending school and getting healthy while leading lives similar to their peers, said Jack Osborn, an lawyer who represents them.
They value their privacy, he said.
"They are relieved they can now move forward with their lives and not have the spectre of a trial hanging over their heads and all the stress that would have caused," Mr Osborn said.
