A chilling 911 call has revealed the moment a 17-year-old girl phoned police to report years of alleged abuse she and her 12 siblings claimed to have endured at the hands of their parents.
The audio was played to a California court on Wednesday.
The girl, who struggled to remember the address of her home, is asked by a 911 operator if she was around the corner from her house, to which she replied, "yeah, I think, I’ve never been out. I don’t go out much”.
The girl went on to tell the dispatcher that she was part of a family of 15 and claimed her parents abused and tortured her and her 12 siblings.
“They abuse us and my two little sisters are chained up,” she said.
Louise Turpin, left, with her attorney Jeff Moore, and her husband, David Turpin, center, with his attorney Allison Webb, right, Wednesday, June 20, 2018, Source: AAP
She also described the stench of the house and how suffocating it was.
“Sometimes I wake up and I can’t breathe because of how dirty the house is. We never take baths,” she said.
David and Louise Turpin allegedly abused and held all 13 of their children captive for years at their home in Perris, California.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the couple was accused of more than 40 charges, all of which they pleaded not guilty to.
The Turpin family. Source: Supplied
Charges against the couple include torture, false imprisonment, abuse of a dependent adult and child abuse.
The siblings known as the ‘Turpin 13’ include six minors and seven adults, ranging in age from two to 29.
They first escaped the property, named “the house of horrors” by the media, in January when the 17-year-old climbed out of a window and ran to call for help.
After they were rescued, Riverside district attorney Mike Hestrin revealed disturbing information at a press conference, telling the media that the children were extremely malnourished and were regularly punished by being tied up and chained with padlocks.
“One of the children at age 12 is the weight of an average seven-year-old,” he said.
“The 29-year-old female victim weighs 82-pounds (37 kg).
“Supposedly home-schooled, the children lacked ... a basic knowledge of life. Many of the children didn’t know what a police officer was.”
Mugshots of David Allen Turpin and Louise Anna Turpin. Source: AAP
Mr Hestrin went on to say that none of the siblings were allowed to shower more than once a year and the couple used to buy food and eat it in front of them while they starved.
“They would buy food, including pies, apple pies, pumpkin pies, leave it on the counter, let the children look at it, but not eat the food,” he said.
“The 17-year-old, when asked if there was medication or pills in the home, didn’t know what medication or pills were.”
Louise Turpin is seen with attorney Jeff Moore during her court arraignment in Riverside, California on January 18, 2018. Source: AFP
Prosecutors said the couple tortured and beat their children, kept them chained to their beds and starved them, all while the family dogs were kept clean and well-fed.
Mr Hestrin said the only thing the siblings were allowed to do while they were chained up in their rooms was to write in journals, which police discovered hundreds of.
Authorities are now “combing through them for evidence.”
Mr and Mrs Turpin remain in custody and bail has been set at US$12 million each.
