Prosecutors say that since they were young, David and Louise Turpin’s 13 children were tortured, neglected, and hurt mentally before they finally got out of their Perris home in 2018.
But the six kids who were then put in the foster home of Marcelino, Rosa, and Lennys Olguin were abused even worse during their three-year stay there than when they were with their parents, where they were mostly hidden from the public for many years, according to lawyers for the six kids who are suing Riverside County and a foster placement agency on Monday, Oct. 21.
Near the Riverside County Hall of Justice, lawyers Roger Booth and Elan Zektser spoke. This is where the parents of the Turpin children were sentenced for their crimes in 2019 and where the Olguin children were sentenced on Friday.
Lawyers also said that the lawsuits that were filed two years ago, which asked for specific damages and said that the defendants failed to protect the Turpins, could go to trial late next summer.
The Turpins had pleaded guilty to torture, false imprisonment, and child endangerment. One of the Olguins, Marcelino Olguin, 65, however, only admitted to seven counts of sexual attack and lewd acts on a minor.
Zartser said, “What happened in that home is worse than what happened in the home of their biological parents.” “So a lot of them are very happy that the Olguins won’t do this to another child.”
The lawyers told the judges what the younger Turpins, who are now adults except for one, had to say. The Turpins didn’t like how caseworkers from Riverside County Child Protective Services kept an eye on their safety and looked into reports of abuse. They also didn’t like ChildNet, the state-licensed company that put them up with the Olguins.
“They thought that the county and ChildNet were worse than the Olguins,” Zektser said. “They had been told many times, ‘You are safe.'” They were then put here and told, “We got you, trust us.” Along with a child molester.
Booth did admit that ChildNet records were hard for CPS to get, which was pointed out by former federal judge Stephen Larson in his 2022 report on the county’s “failed” support of the Turpins after they ran away.
A spokesman for the County Department of Social Services, C.L. Lopez, said in a written statement on Monday that the county no longer works with ChildNet. ChildNet changed its name to Foster Family Network in 2023.
“The pain this family went through is heartbreaking.” DPSS is still working to fill in job gaps and make more safe, available placements available. Lopez wrote, “Recently, the county spent more than $30 million to buy and staff a therapeutic campus for kids with complex needs who are waiting to be placed.”
Lopez also said, “The county is committed to continuous quality improvement, and we are always looking over our policies, procedures, and practices.”
“We have put many of the Larson report’s suggestions into action since 2022 and are in the process of putting several more into action.” To give you an example, we’ve added hundreds of more social workers, which has led to a big drop in caseloads.
ChildNet officials did not answer a message asking them to speak.
Three months earlier, in April 2018, the six young Turpins were taken in by the foster home. This was after one of the 13 Turpin children, whose names all start with the letter J and range in age from 2 to 29, escaped their home and called 911.
Booth said that after six to nine months, CPS started getting reports of crimes being committed by the Olguins.
He wouldn’t say who made the reports, but he did say that some of them came from outside the house. It is known that the 13 Turpins talk to each other a lot.
But at first, none of the CPS investigations led to the children being taken away or charges being made against the Olguins.
“A number of times, they were trying to brush it off as if it were nothing,” Zektser warned.
The kids were questioned in front of the Olguins, who Booth said told them, “They were nothing,” that no one would help them, and that if they left their Scenic Way home, their close-knit family would fall apart.
Booth said, “They were scared.”
Zektser said that CPS did finally tell the Sheriff’s Department what happened. Master Investigator Tom Salisbury talked to the kids away from home and told the District Attorney’s Office what he found. They were charged on November 3, 2021.
Zektser said, “The Turpins want change.” “They want more watch over things.” When kids are having a hard time, they want someone to notice. When kids report abuse, they want someone to listen.
He said that some of the Turpins are now in college and others have jobs.
Booth did say that it had been hard for the Turpins to get used to living in the real world since they had only been taught up to the first grade and didn’t know what things like ice and medicine were.
Zektser added, “They were thrown out into the world and told to do their best. They went from a horrible situation to an even worse one.”
They are picking up things by doing them. That is not always a good thing. A lot of people will try to take advantage of you, and bad things will happen.
