A judge has ordered a married couple to stand trial on charges of torture, false imprisonment and abuse for their treatment of 13 siblings who were found imprisoned and starving in their suburban California home.
David and Louise Turpin were bound over for trial on Thursday after a two-day hearing in Riverside County Superior Court in which the court heard the tape of a 911 call by a 17-year-old girl who climbed out a window and dialled police on a borrowed mobile phone, said John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
Officers who went to the Turpins' home in Perris, about 112km east of Los Angeles found 12 siblings ranging in age from two to 29 inside, suffering from malnourishment, muscle wasting and other signs of severe abuse.
David and Louise Turpin were both taken into custody and charged with multiple counts of torture and false imprisonment, child abuse and cruelty to a dependant adult.
They could face up to life in prison if convicted at trial.
