‘House of Horrors’ dad slammed with more criminal charges; may have lied on homeschooling report

The California man accused of torturing his 13 children is facing additional charges related to the purported homeschooling he and his wife provided to the kids.

The Press-Enterprise reports that prosecutors on Friday filed eight counts of perjury against David Turpin in connection to documents he filed with the state to register the school.

Authorities alleged that Turpin and his wife, Louise, neglected and starved the children and shackled them to their beds.

The couple had each been previously charged with 12 counts of false imprisonment and torture, seven counts of cruelty to a dependent adult and nine counts of child abuse.

David Turpin also is accused of lewd acts with a child under 14 years old, while Louise Turpin is alleged to have committed felony assault.

They’ve pleaded not guilty to all of the previous charges.

The new allegations bring the total number of charges against the couple to 92, with 50 of them against David alone.

David did not enter a plea on Friday to the perjury charges, which may not happen until a court hearing on May 18.

David Turpin’s lawyer, David J. Macher, said there is a presumption of innocence on the new charges just as those that were already pending.

It is possible that the eight perjury charges apply to the affidavits Turpin filed with the state’s education agency to register what he called Sandcastle Day School and City Day School.

In California, private schools, including home schools, are required to file an affidavit annually that contains various pieces of information. It’s not clear which information authorities allege was false, but prosecutors have suggested that the children did not receive a sufficient education, the newspaper reports.

“He certified under penalty of perjury that the children in the Turpin home were receiving a full-time education in a private day school,” the DA’s office said in a Facebook post.

Investigators have indicated that the Turpins may have sought to homeschool the children in part to conceal that the kids were not being properly cared for. The family generally was awake at night and slept during daytime hours.

The 13 Turpin children ranged in age from 2 years told to 29 at the time of their parents’ arrest on Jan. 14.

The seven adult-age kids are living in an undisclosed location while officials have not revealed whether the minors, who had been hospitalized, are in foster care.

Both David and Louise Turpin are being held in jail in lieu of $12 million bail. They each face upwards of 94 years in prison if convicted on all of the charges.

 

[Feature image: Turpin family/Facebook]