“The emotional abuse that these children endured is horrific. They were told by their foster parents, ‘I understand why your parents chained you up. I would have done the same thing,'" an attorney representing some of the children tells Inside Edition.
Six of the youngest Turpin children, who survived being tortured by their biological parents, now say they've been abused by their foster parents.
“Some of my clients were sexually abused in their foster home. They were physically abused — hit, had their hair pulled out, hit with various objects, socially isolated,” said attorney Carly Sanchez, who is representing some of the children.
She says the children, who'd already grown up in the so-called Turpin house of horrors, went on to suffer three more years of heartbreaking abuse in foster care.
“The emotional abuse that these children endured is horrific. They were told by their foster parents, ‘I understand why your parents chained you up. I would have done the same thing.’ When they went to their foster parents expressing depression, their foster parents gave them ideas about how they might successfully commit suicide,” Sanchez said.
Some of the claims of abuse also focus around food.
“They were forced to eat food that was covered in mold. They were forced to eat all of the food on their plates, regardless of how hungry they were. And they were forced to eat all the food on their plates to the point where some of them threw up. And then some of our clients were then forced to eat their own vomit,” Sanchez said.
The children are now suing the foster care provider and Riverside County, claiming they knew the foster parents were unfit and had a prior history of physically and emotionally abusing children.
The foster parents, Marcelino and Rosa Olguin, have been charged with multiple counts of abuse and neglect.
The Turpin children are now with a new foster family.
“They are all placed together in one home. They seem to being quite well,” Sanchez said.
The foster parents and their adult daughter have pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges. The foster care agency and Riverside County said they're not able to comment on the specific abuse allegations.
