Turpins 3: 2 Monsters, 13 Victims (WARNING abuse and torture)

[Dandruff]

I hope the kids don't end up with an extended family member, who I could see potentially becoming a path of communication between the kids and the "parents".

[anjulibai]

44 minutes ago, Flossie said:

I was wondering if some of the interest in family members comes from the idea that those kids will come with money.  Couple that with the positive attention they would receive for taking in at least some of the kids, ignore the very real problems of the kind of therapies and medical care they'll need, and you're set up for a catastrophe.

The kids don't need someone who will take them in to make themselves feel better over not realizing or doing anything about their past living conditions.  They don't need anyone using them to make themselves look good.  They don't need anyone who has dollar signs in their eyes.

They need more than just someone who is related to their parents.  I don't envy the workers who have to find the best living situations and the best people to get those kids into a good place.

This is exactly what I think is going on. 

[LovelyLuna]

Hell no to the fasting uncle.  I’m jewish, fasting is a part of certain holidays, but most are around 12 hours of fasting followed by a big meal/celebration.  I’m not aloud to fast because of my heath; as are children and pregnant women. My rabbi would be pissed if I did.  21 days is torture, not religious. 

[onekidanddone]

31 minutes ago, LovelyLuna said:

Hell no to the fasting uncle.  I’m jewish, fasting is a part of certain holidays, but most are around 12 hours of fasting followed by a big meal/celebration.  I’m not aloud to fast because of my heath; as are children and pregnant women. My rabbi would be pissed if I did.  21 days is torture, not religious. 

I've never fasted on Yom Kippur because my blood sugar tends to drop and drop fast. The whole shaking, sweating and passing out is no fun. 21 days? Sounds like a serious case of religious OCD. Making other people do it is abuse.  

Yo! Steve Maxwell, you reading?

[BlackSheep]

1 hour ago, Flossie said:

I was wondering if some of the interest in family members comes from the idea that those kids will come with money.  Couple that with the positive attention they would receive for taking in at least some of the kids, ignore the very real problems of the kind of therapies and medical care they'll need, and you're set up for a catastrophe.

The kids don't need someone who will take them in to make themselves feel better over not realizing or doing anything about their past living conditions.  They don't need anyone using them to make themselves look good.  They don't need anyone who has dollar signs in their eyes.

They need more than just someone who is related to their parents.  I don't envy the workers who have to find the best living situations and the best people to get those kids into a good place.

@Flossie, this was a brilliant post. Well said.

[Knight of Ni]

I just read another story about a parent starving her kids. Unfortunately in this case the 16 year old died. She was about 80 lbs when she died which is around the same weight as the oldest Turpin. 

[EmCatlyn]

I agree with everyone who is expressing skepticism about the motives of the Turpins’ extended family who are now saying that they want to help the kids, provide them with a home, family, etc.  And I have some concern that while the younger kids may not end up with some of their dysfunctional relatives the kidults will.

 

[Carol]

The thought of those children going to live with Randy Turpin, David Turpin's nut- job fundie brother, makes me feel sick to my stomach.  Those kids need unconditional love and lots of support, not more guilt and shame.  I hope the Turpin children are kept away from their relatives as much as possible.  There's no question in my mind that their relative's intent is more money and fame/martyr oriented than it is loving and caring.

I also feel strongly that they should not go to any overtly religious foster home.  "God" has damaged their lives enough.

[Walking Cat Bed]

I really hope these kids are kept far away from their biological relatives. There's a lot of ugly tied up with these biological connections. 

[HarryPotterFan]

2 hours ago, LovelyLuna said:

Hell no to the fasting uncle.  I’m jewish, fasting is a part of certain holidays, but most are around 12 hours of fasting followed by a big meal/celebration.  I’m not aloud to fast because of my heath; as are children and pregnant women. My rabbi would be pissed if I did.  21 days is torture, not religious. 

Exactly!! It’s a mitzvah NOT to fast if it would harm your health!! That’s one thing I love about Judaism, health comes before any religious law. Are you listening, “Dr.” Turpin??

[Fun Undies]

On 1/25/2018 at 7:23 PM, FecundFundieFundus said:

Also I worry that smaller children will grow attached to their foster siblings and having them move back home would be extremely painful for them. 
Disclaimer: I've never been a foster parent, just read some and thought a lot about it. 

I can really only speak for myself, but I literally got to have foster babies living with us, starting when I was four years old, and I have only dear memories of them

But I completey understand what you mean here, and you know your kids best <3  I commend you for reading up on it, and wish you all the best and fingers crossed for down the road!!

2 hours ago, LovelyLuna said:

Hell no to the fasting uncle.  I’m jewish, fasting is a part of certain holidays, but most are around 12 hours of fasting followed by a big meal/celebration.  I’m not aloud to fast because of my heath; as are children and pregnant women. My rabbi would be pissed if I did.  21 days is torture, not religious. 

We do the same for Catholic fasting, but the hours can vary per person.  The recommendation in our parish, is three hours before mass.  Sick, children, etc, are not required (as it should be).  I'm kind of embarrassed I didn't know this about the Jewish custom, but love hearing about similarities among different faiths #theologynerdintraining

50 minutes ago, Carol said:

I also feel strongly that they should not go to any overtly religious foster home.  "God" has damaged their lives enough.

Just for reassurance (and this may vary by state), but we had to sign as part of our training/classes - an agreement stating we would support any religion/faith the minor (s) would have.  And would need to ask special permission to bring them to our own church.  So for example, if our foster child was Hmong or Somali (both large immigration groups in Minnesota), we would need to be comfortable taking them to the appropriate worship center outside of our own faith. Since we go both to mass, and an interfaith church (UU), we wholeheartedly agreed to be supportive <3

I 100% agree that they do not need the kind of God their parents were offering - but it also depends on the kids, if it is something that is familair, and somehow still comforting to them, they should have access it.  But (and this is a BIG but), only if they wish it, absolutely no pressure should be applied by the foster parents!

[HarleyQuinn]

Genie's story is infuriating because who knows how far she would've came communication wise had they not disrupted her therapy.

[Grimalkin]

On 1/25/2018 at 6:24 PM, Carol said:

I was just thinking about how special it must feel to them to have warm/hot running water for a shower.  I think water can be soothing so I hope they get plenty of it if they like it.  They can now walk around freely within the confines of their own personal space or a whole house/facility.  They have the freedom to speak in more than a whisper, to eat a reasonable amount of food when hungry.  They sleep in beds now, not on top of filthy mattresses.  They have clean sheets and blankets to keep them warm.  I've always taken all these things for granted so it must be a huge, but welcome, transition for them.

 

I hope these kids/adults get movies and popcorn at least every Friday night.  It was a routine in our home and I always looked forward to it.

     I saw an interview with a woman who is a nurse who is part of a team who specializes in caring for children like this and she talked about giving the children tenderness, which is something they likely never had before.

[Someone Out There]

As a question, wouldn't there potentially be issues with sending the kids to Louise's side of the family due to what I presume was another family member sexually abusing Louise and her sisters?  Assuming whoever it is is still around...

Also the Uncle should be vetoed due to his fasting practices.

[EmCatlyn]

The fate of the older children worried me more than the fate of the younger ones.   Not only have they had more years of torture and deprivation, but they will have fewer years of protection and help from the system.

The two or three youngest kids (the two-year-old, the twelve-year-old, and maybe the next one) will probably be fine in the end.  The two-year-old for sure, if she get decent adoptive parents, should lead a normal life.  For the preteen and young teen it will be harder but not impossible to catch up with peers, to get the help they need to overcome developmental delays and heal emotionally before they are legally adults. A lot will depend on who takes care of them, but I know a couple of success stories of abused preteens who were adopted by sane parents and are now doing great.

When I think of the other ones, I can’t be so hopeful.  Adolescence is difficult enough under the best of circumstances.  And one, two, or three years of care/protective oversight may not be enough for most of them.  But that is the most they will have unless they are so severely damaged that they can’t function at all.  

As others have mentioned upthread, right now the world is interested and everyone is giving things and money.  But in a couple of years, the interest will fade. 

[Tim-Tom Biblethumper]

@Knight of Ni  @quiversR4hunting  @Shadoewolf  & again @FundieFarmer
Thanks you guys!  That's probably the thing I love most about FJ...there's always someone who can answer a question about most anything.  And even better, folks who like to help each other.  

[Aine]

On 1/26/2018 at 12:15 AM, EmCatlyn said:

I have to wonder if they would really care much about the kids if they weren’t in the headlines. 

Exactly! I live abroad and sometimes phone/FaceTime contact with one of my brothers is irregular for various reasons and he doesn't really use social media. I know he would never be capable of what happened with the Turpin,and the red flag of someone not letting you see their kids wouldn't have been missed by my local family members, but if he had been estranged for years and then we found about any child abuse- I would be on a plane from the US, I would be at the hospital, I'd be talking with child services and police, getting to know the children or listening to professional opinions on the best way to be introduced slowly etc. I would not be talking to the media.

[EmCatlyn]

Am I the only one who is surprised that when Louise reportedly told her brother that she wanted to have a reality show, the show she mentioned was “Kate Plus Eight” rather than the Duggars?  

After all, the Turpin family’s composition (multiple ages, homeschooling, God told them to have a large family, etc.) is closer to the Duggar’s.  The striking feature of Kate’s family is less the size than the multiple births.  Six children going through the same developmental stages together has a slightly different feel than a multi-age family (Kate does have the twin girls, but it is still just two age groups.)

Now, we all agree that it is highly unlikely that the Turpins would have followed through on any “reality show” plan.  They had too much to hide.  But I find it interesting that the show Louise used as a point of reference was not the two-parent, patriarchal, religious conservative, multi-age family where the older off-spring helped raise the younger.  

Anyway, what I am thinking is that Louise’s interest in “competing” with the Kate/8 rather than the Duggar/19 may connect to the way she wants things to center around herself and the image(s) she wants to project. And it may also be connected somehow to her combination of the more dysfunctional elements of the fundie “life style” with her embracing “secular sins” as part of the persona she tried to convey to her family.

Just musing here...

[Rosalie]

Kate plus 8 is much more glamorous than The Duggars. Showing much more money and expensive vacations etc.

[EmCatlyn]

I had been wondering how all the money that is being collected for the Turpin off-spring is going to be handled/used, so I was glad to find this:

Quote

Phillips said the money collected in the fund will go straight into a trust which she says will most likely be used for long-term support, such as medical, dental and educational needs.

Erin Phillips is the foundation executive director for the Riverside University Health System.  The article, from KESQ tv and news in Palm Springs, CA states that as of last Thursday the total collected by various means was $183,000.  More is expected both through donations and fundraisers.   

Another bit of “news” is that there is an online petition to keep the children together and “outside of foster care.”  See “Demand No Foster Care”.

The petition demands that the State of California “think outside the box” and find a solution that will keep the 13 children together. It has only a handful of signatures and I suspect it will go nowhere.

But I wonder, other than creating a special group home for the Turpins with a couple of counsellors/ guardians, what could be done to keep them together?   It is clear that at this point the older kids are in no position to take responsibility for the minors.

 

[Cleopatra7]

2 hours ago, EmCatlyn said:

Am I the only one who is surprised that when Louise reportedly told her brother that she wanted to have a reality show, the show she mentioned was “Kate Plus Eight” rather than the Duggars?  

After all, the Turpin family’s composition (multiple ages, homeschooling, God told them to have a large family, etc.) is closer to the Duggar’s.  The striking feature of Kate’s family is less the size than the multiple births.  Six children going through the same developmental stages together has a slightly different feel than a multi-age family (Kate does have the twin girls, but it is still just two age groups.)

I seem to recall that Jon and Kate did try to appeal to an evangelical-“pro-life” audience before they went completely off the rails. Plus, I don’t think the Turpins wanted to have TV “ministry,” just the attention and money.

[Knight of Ni]

I heard a PSA on the radio a few days ago. It was one of those “if you see something unusual say something”. I wonder how much it was influenced by the Turpin family. 

[Maxwell]

1 minute ago, Knight of Ni said:

I heard a PSA on the radio a few days ago. It was one of those “if you see something unusual say something”. I wonder how much it was influenced by the Turpin family. 

Not at all... that PSA has been around for years.

[EmCatlyn]

1 hour ago, Cleopatra7 said:

I seem to recall that Jon and Kate did try to appeal to an evangelical-“pro-life” audience before they went completely off the rails. Plus, I don’t think the Turpins wanted to have TV “ministry,” just the attention and money.

Yes, that is partly my point.  The family Louise wanted to compete with was the “off-the-rails” performative secular Kate/8 rather than the other large family that was famous on TLC.  

Certainly Louise was interested only in the money and fame, and you may be right that Louise connected the Duggars with “ministry” and she wanted none of that. I also agree with @Rosalie that Kate/8 is more “glamorous.”  But I still think that there may be more going on.    

[lilith]

3 hours ago, EmCatlyn said:

I had been wondering how all the money that is being collected for the Turpin off-spring is going to be handled/used, so I was glad to find this:

Erin Phillips is the foundation executive director for the Riverside University Health System.  The article, from KESQ tv and news in Palm Springs, CA states that as of last Thursday the total collected by various means was $183,000.  More is expected both through donations and fundraisers.   

Another bit of “news” is that there is an online petition to keep the children together and “outside of foster care.”  See “Demand No Foster Care”.

The petition demands that the State of California “think outside the box” and find a solution that will keep the 13 children together. It has only a handful of signatures and I suspect it will go nowhere.

But I wonder, other than creating a special group home for the Turpins with a couple of counsellors/ guardians, what could be done to keep them together?   It is clear that at this point the older kids are in no position to take responsibility for the minors.

 

If the Turpin parents aren’t able to access the equity in their home for legal fees then I assume it would eventually go to their children/victims. Though due to the presumption of innocence, any assets will probably go towards their defence. That may be another reason why they aren’t pleading guilty at this point, because surely as soon as they do a civil suit could be filed and their assets frozen.

Anyway..... given the amount of donations and public support, I can see keeping the family together in one home with support workers could be possible once everyone has stabilised. That’s assuming the adult children want that (they may not, and they shouldn’t feel guilty if they want to start their own seperate lives) and that there aren’t harmful dynamics at play between the siblings. But creating a home with group home level support but a family atmosphere could be a possibility.