A son and daughter of David and Louise Turpin have spoken for the first time as their parents were sentenced to life in prison.

“Now I’m taking my life back,” a daughter — one of the Turpins’ 13 children — said in court. “I’m a fighter. I’m strong and I’m shooting through life like a rocket.”

“I’m in college now and living independently,” she said. “I love hanging out with my friends and life is great. I believe everything happens for a reason. Life may have been bad, but it made me strong. I fought to become the person I am.”

A judge ordered that David and Louise Turpin to spend 25 years in jail.

Louise Turpin wept as she apologised for hurting her children, while her husband David Turpin struggled to give a short statement.

“My homeschooling and discipline had good intentions,” David Turpin said. “I’m sorry if I’ve done anything to cause them harm.”

Louise Turpin spoke for herself, saying, “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to hurt my children. I love my children so much. … I only want the best for them”.

“I want them to know Mum and Dad are going to be okay. I believe God has a special plan for each of them... I love them more than they could ever imagine,” she said.

One of the Turpin’s sons said he still loved his parents despite them abusing him and his siblings throughout their lives.

“I cannot describe in words what we went through growing up. Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that had happened, such as my siblings being chained up or getting beaten. But that is the past and this is now,” he said. “I love my parents and have forgiven them for a lot of the things that they did to us. I have learned so much and become very independent.”

Judge Keith Schwartz enacted restraining orders from preventing the Turpins from contacting their children from prison.

“Children are indeed a gift. They're a gift to their parents, to their family, to their friends, and they're a gift to society,” Judge Schwartz said to the Turpins.

“But they're also a gift to society, because you don't know what a child is going to do when they've finished their schooling and seek their occupation. Maybe they'll become a scientist and discover a cure for some disease.

“Maybe they'll become a doctor or first responder and save someone's life. Maybe they'll enter the military and protect our country. Or maybe they'll just otherwise become a good citizen who makes the world a better place.

“The selfish, cruel and inhumane treatment of your children has deprived them, your family, friends, society and especially both of you of those gifts. Their lives have been permanently altered in their ability to learn and thrive.

“It delayed their mental, physical and emotional development. To the extent that they do thrive, and we've learnt today that a couple of them are, it will be not because of you both but in spite of you both.

“The only reason that your punishment is less than the maximum time, in my opinion, is you accepted responsibility at an early stage in the proceedings, and spared your children the humiliation and the harm [of a trial],” he ended.

The couple pleaded guilty earlier this year to 14 counts of abusing and imprisoning their children in their home.

Their sentencing marks the culmination of a horrific case that has played out publicly for over a year after being covered up for decades.