RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California county and a foster care agency have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement with six children who were placed in abusive homes after being rescued from squalid and abusive conditions at their parents’ homes.
Riverside County will pay $2.25 million to the Turpins’ six children, most of whom are now adults, while ChildNet, the care provider, will pay $11.25 million, according to a copy of the settlement.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of the six Turpin brothers says the Olguins took them in after rescuing them from their parents’ home in 2018, hitting them with sandals, pulling their hair, forcing them to eat their own vomit and making them talk about their trauma.
Marcelino Olguin pleaded guilty to child molestation, false imprisonment and injury to a child and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2024, while his wife and adult daughter received suspended sentences for child abuse.
“They literally told us, ‘Nobody wants you. You can’t find a better place than here,'” Jolinda Turpin, 20, said in an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer that aired this week. She spoke alongside her two siblings. “Something good needs to come out of this. It has to be that way and I can’t accept that.”
Attorneys for the six siblings said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement ends the case and helps spur major improvements to Riverside County’s child welfare system.
“These concrete and long-overdue steps to improve children’s safety are a direct result of the Turpins’ bravery in coming forward and insisting that their pain would lead to meaningful change to protect other children,” attorneys Roger Booth and Elan Zektser said in a statement. “Their courage, resilience and unwavering commitment to protecting other children in foster care are extraordinary.”
The six plaintiffs and seven other siblings were rescued from their parents’ home in Perris, California. David and Louise Turpin admitted to years of torture and ill-treatment, which included shackling some of their 13 children, starving them and providing them with only a minimal education. They were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
In the settlement, Riverside County and ChildNet denied wrongdoing. Riverside County Executive Jeff Van Wagenen said in a statement that the county is committed to the “well-being and long-term recovery” of all 13 siblings and has made changes since the case came to light, including increasing coordination between child welfare and law enforcement agencies and increasing the number of trained social workers.
“The trauma this family has endured is heartbreaking. The abuse these children suffered in their biological and adoptive families is tragic and unacceptable,” Van Wagenen said. “No one wants this to happen again.”
Eric Rose, a spokesman for ChildNet, said in a statement that the agency received no complaints or allegations of abuse while the children were in the agency’s foster care program and that those complaints or allegations were made after the children were no longer in ChildNet’s care.
“Our mission has always been, and remains, to help vulnerable children heal, grow and succeed. That mission guided every decision in this case and continues to guide our work today,” Ross said.
A report found that the social services system failed to meet the needs of the Turpin children, who range in age from 2 to 29, and were rescued by authorities after their 17-year-old sister ran away and called 911.