Turpin parents’ eldest son looked ‘famished’ at college, wore the same clothing all semester, report says

The eldest son of the Perris couple who is accused of starving and torturing their thirteen children attended classes at Mt. San Jacinto Community College, where a classmate has described him as shy, frail and visibly hungry, according to a news report.

Angie Parra, a classmate at the Riverside County college, said in an interview with NBC Los Angeles that the introverted young man was “sweet but odd” and wore the same clothing all semester.

"I could see sadness in his face," Parra told the news station. "His eyes – he never wanted to make eye contact with anyone."

Parra also recalled how her “famished” classmate once scarfed down food at a school potluck.

“He stood by the table and didn’t sit down with a plate,” Parra said in the NBC interview. “He literally ate plate after plate after plate.”

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This young man is one of the thirteen children of David and Louise Turpin, 56 and 49, who are accused of beating, strangling, chaining and starving their kids so severely that it stunted their growth. The Turpins were arrested last week after authorities found their children – ages 2 to 29 – trapped in inhumane conditions at an unassuming house in Perris. Their parents have been charged with multiple counts of torture and face life in prison if convicted.

Despite this harsh captivity, authorities say the Turpins allowed their oldest son to attend some college classes. During a press conference last week, District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Louise Turpin would go to the campus with her son, wait outside the classroom and then immediately escort him home.

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Mt. San Jacinto College confirmed in a public statement that one of the Turpin children attended classes, but said it could not release more information because of privacy laws. The college called the allegations “extremely disturbing” and said the college was “deeply saddened and horrified to hear of the allegations involving these children.”

ABC News, which says it has obtained a transcript from the college, is reporting that the Turpin son attended the school for six semesters and maintained a 3.93 grade point average.

The Turpin’s captive children were discovered on Jan. 14 after a 17-year-old girl escaped the Perris house through a window and called for help. Hestrin, the district attorney, said three of the children were found in chained to beds. Prosecutors believe Turpin parents punished their children by chaining them for weeks or months at a time.

"I will tell you as a prosecutor, there are cases that stick with you, they haunt you," Hestrin said. "Sometimes in this business we are faced with human depravity. That is what we are looking at here."

Both Turpin suspects pleaded not guilty during a brief hearing last week. Their attorneys declined to discuss the substance of the case.

Reporter Brett Kelman covers public safety for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at (760) 778-4642 or brett.kelman@desertsun.com or followed on Twitter @TDSbrettkelman.