Perris torture defendant David Turpin was charged Friday, May 4, with eight counts of perjury accusations related to the documents he submitted to the state Department of Education to register the homeschool where some of the family’s 13 children were supposed to be educated.

The felony charges bring the total against Turpin and wife Louise to 92 — 50 against David.

Louise Turpin, left, and husband, David, accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children, during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David Turpin did not enter a plea to the eight counts of perjury filed for the torture case. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Louise Turpin talks to a defense investigator during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. Louise and David Turpin are accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

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David Turpin, accused of neglecting and shackling his 13 children, talks to his attorney David Macher during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David Turpin did not enter a plea to the eight counts of perjury filed for the torture case. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Louise Turpin, left, and husband David, far right, accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children, listen to attorney Jeff Moore, second left, during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David Turpin did not enter a plea to the eight counts of perjury filed for the torture case. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Louise Turpin talks to a defense investigator during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. Louise and David Turpin are accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)



Louise Turpin, left, talks to a defense investigator, as husband, David, looks on during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. Louise and David Turpin are accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

David Turpin, accused of neglecting and shackling his 13 children, talks to defense attorney Jeff Zimel, center, during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David Turpin did not enter a plea to the eight counts of perjury filed for the torture case. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Louise Turpin appears in court during a hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David and Louise Turpin are accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

Louise Turpin talks to a defense investigator during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. Louise and David Turpin are accused of neglecting and shackling their 13 children (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

David Turpin, right, accused of neglecting and shackling his 13 children, talks to his attorney David Macher during an appearance at the Riverside Hall of Justice in Riverside, Calif. on Friday, May 4, 2018. David Turpin did not enter a plea to the eight counts of perjury filed for the torture case. (Photo by Watchara Phomicinda, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)



Prosecutors say the couple shackled, starved and neglected their children, although the youngest, 2 years old at the time of the couple’s Jan. 14 arrests, appeared to be healthy.

The Turpins had already been charged with 12 counts each of torture and false imprisonment, as well as nine counts of child abuse and seven counts of cruelty to a dependent adult. David Turpin is additionally charged with one count of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, and Louise Turpin is charged with one count of felony assault. They have pleaded not guilty to all of the previous charges.

David Turpin did not enter a plea Friday to the new charges. That is likely to happen at the next hearing, a status conference, on May 18. The preliminary hearing where a judge will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold the couple for trial was rescheduled to June 20.

“The presumption of innocence applies to any new charges as well as to those already on file,” said David Turpin’s attorney, David J. Macher.

The eight perjury charges match the number of affidavits David Turpin submitted to register Sandcastle Day School, when the family lived in Perris, and City Day School, when the family lived in Murrieta after moving from Texas. Private schools in California with students ages 6 to 18 are required annually to submit an affidavit.

The Private School Affidavit requests information such as address, phone number, name of the principal (in this case, David Turpin), the school email address, whether it is a religious school, range of grades offered and the number of students in each grade.

The document, signed “under penalty of perjury,” required Turpin to acknowledge that all students in his school were full-time students at that school.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office would not precisely describe which statements on the documents were false, but a news release on the DA’s Facebook page hinted that the Turpin children did not receive a complete education.

“He certified under penalty of perjury that the children in the Turpin home were receiving a full-time education in a private day school,” the post said.

The forms were submitted for the 2010-11 through 2017-18 school years. The first affidavit listed one student each in grades 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 11; the most recent affidavit listed one student each in grades 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11.

Authorities have suggested that the children were homeschooled in part to prevent the public from noticing that they were malnourished and the children from revealing the family secrets. The Turpins generally were awake during the night and sleeping during the day, authorities have said.

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For the second consecutive hearing Friday, the Turpins’ feet and arms were not shackled. Louise, 49, wore the same dark suit as in past hearings; David, 56, instead of a dark suit, wore a green long-sleeved shirt and green-and-yellow tie.

They were left alone at the defense table before the hearing as attorneys conferred in Super Court Judge Emma C. Smith’s chambers, but they were not allowed to talk with each other. Louise generally looked straight ahead toward a computer screen. David, looking tired, often looked down.

For the first time in the case, there were open seats in the courtroom that once overflowed with media. A Santa Monica-based producer for an Australian television show she described as similar to “60 Minutes” was in court, however.

The 13 children, six minors and seven adults whose names all begin with the letter J, ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time of their parents’ arrests. The adults have been moved to an undisclosed location. Officials have declined to say whether the minors, initially treated at a hospital in Moreno Valley, are in foster care.

The Turpins are each being held in lieu of $12 million bail at Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside and are facing 94 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged.