Childhood sexual abuse and an obsession with witchcraft might have been part of what led California mother Louise Turpin to starve and torture her 13 children, the jailed woman’s sister claimed in an upcoming tell-all book.
In Secrets of Sisters: The Story of Sisters Leading Up To The Turpin Case Arrest, Elizabeth Flores recounted how she and her two sisters were repeatedly sexually abused by their grandfather. According to Radar Online, Flores remembered being 4 years old when Louise offered herself up to her grandfather to spare her from his alleged sexual abuse.
“Turning to me, she looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, ‘I’ll go,’” Flores said of her older sister. “She was my protector; my shield.”
Flores claims she was later victimized by the same grandfather who would make their younger sister, Teresa, watch.
Flores also said she believes Louise’s infatuation with witchcraft from 2008 t0 2010 might’ve influenced the disturbing behavior that landed her behind bars with husband David. Flores told the New York Daily News that, shortly after moving to Texas, Louise claimed an Ouija board predicted she was going to have another child.
“She told me she was messing around with witchcraft. It just really freaked me out,” Flores told the newspaper last week.
“She brought the Ouija board to my home and I wouldn’t let her bring it in my door.”
Flores said she was most upset when Louise attempted to convince her to participate in a snake-handling festival in Arlington. She said Louise had read that serpents were a source of power.
“I do know witchcraft is very serious and demonic,” the sister told the Daily News. “If she did get deep into that, I do think it could have led her to do what she did because you’re basically selling your soul to the devil.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Riverside police had arrested Louise, 49, and David, 56, on January 15 after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the Perris home and used a deactivated cell phone to call police. The pair is accused of starving their children, limiting their bathroom use, and allowing them to shower only once a year.
Authorities alleged that the Turpin children, who range in age from 2 to 29, have physical and cognitive impairments due to the years of neglect carried out by Louise and David.
The California parents have pleaded not guilty to a slew of charges, including torture, abuse of a dependent adult, child abuse, and false imprisonment. They’re being held on $12 million bail each.