The home in California where two parents allegedly tortured their 13 children had doubled as a private school for the siblings – but the premises received no government oversight and was never inspected by education officials.

David Turpin had been home-schooling his children at the house in Perris, east of Los Angeles, which he called the Sandcastle Day School. In the 2016-17 school year, it had an enrollment of six, with one student each in the fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th grades.

California police rescue 13 chained and malnourished siblings Read more

There was no indication anyone other than his children were enrolled, authorities said.

Authorities said they uncovered the abuse when a 17-year-old girl jumped out of a window, called 911 and led police to 12 of her brothers and sisters aged from two to 29 years old, all malnourished and some chained to furniture.

Turpin and his wife, Louise Anna Turpin, were being held on $9m bail and could face torture and child endangerment charges.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Media outside the Turpin home in Perris, California. Photograph: Mike Blake/Reuters

Police remain baffled by the parents’ motives. “I wish I could come to you today with information that would explain why this happened,” said Captain Greg Fellows of the Riverside county sheriff’s department on Tuesday.

“But we do need to acknowledge the courage of the young girl who escaped from that residence to bring attention so they could get the help they so needed.”

Fellows said conditions at the house were “horrific.” Even so, he said, the mother appeared perplexed about why the police were there.

He added: “If you can imagine being 17 years old and appearing to be a 10-year-old, being chained to a bed, being malnourished, and injuries associated with that. I would call that torture.”

The case has raised questions about how the Turpins were able to hide the alleged abuse and how the “school” escaped any oversight.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest David and Louise Turpin at ceremony to restate their marriage vows in Las Vegas. Photograph: UPI / Barcroft Images

One experts said it may have been easier for the parents to shield their children from scrutiny because they were home-schooled. “One of the things that was interesting was, [Turpin] set up his own home school so the kids were accounted for and not really seen by anybody,” said Sherryll Kraizer, a child-abuse prevention expert and the founder of the Coalition for Children.



Susan von Zabern, director of Riverside county’s social service department, said it was “the first opportunity to intervene”.

Private schools in California are not licensed by the state education department and no agency regulates or oversees them. The schools are only required to file an affidavit with the state each year that lists the number of students, staff members and information about administrators.

“We are sickened by this tragedy and relieved the children are now safe and authorities are investigating,” Bill Ainsworth, a spokesman for the California department of education, said in a statement.

Full-time private schools must register with the state to record their students’ exemption from mandatory attendance at public schools, but the education department lacks the authority to monitor, inspect or oversee private schools, Ainsworth said.

They are, however, subject to an annual inspection by the state or local fire marshal. Representatives for the state’s forestry and fire protection department, the local county fire chiefs and the Perris fire department did not immediately say whether the Turpins’ home was ever inspected.

Private schools are generally regulated by parents, who often sign contracts and review standards before enrolling their children, said Ron Reynolds, executive director of the California Association of Private School Organizations. Private school employees are required to report suspected child abuse to authorities, he said.

Asked whether the organization, comprised of 1,500 private schools in California, believes oversight is sufficient, Reynolds said, “We always desire as our first priority safeguarding our children. We never resist or oppose legislation aimed at protecting students.”

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.