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6 year oldThe siblings — ranging in age from 2 to 29 — were allegedly being held captive in putrid conditions by their parents in a home in Perris, Calif., about 30 miles south of San Bernardino, according to KABC-TV.
The discovery was made after a 17-year-old girl escaped from the hell house on Sunday Morning and called cops on a cell phone she managed to sneak out with her.
Police soon located the teen, who they said looked emaciated and appeared to be about 10 years old, the network said.
The teen told police that her 12 siblings were being held inside the home.
Cops later found several more children inside the home malnourished, unwashed and shackled with chains and padlocks.
Seven of the captives were adults — ages 18 to 29.
Neighbors described the home as desolate and said the children rarely came outside.
“My kids tried to sell them candy,” Antrina Mojica told The Post. “They could hear people inside but they wouldn’t open the door.”
Mojica said the children rarely came outside and would always stay on their front lawn.
“My kids would walk by there all the time,” she said.
“They knew that there were kids in there. There would always be packages in the porch.”
Another neighbor said he witnessed a few “dirty” kids out on the lawn while there was work being done.
“I saw two or three kids once,” the neighbor said.
“They looked dirty. They were doing the front yard I just thought they were dirty from working.”
He said that the lawn had weeds about 4 feet high before the summer.
“It’s a very quiet house,” he said. “It looked like it was abandoned, like no one lives there.”
The parents — David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49 — were being held on suspicion of torture and child endangerment.
Bail was set at $9 million each.
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