The 13 children imprisoned for years by their parents in their squalid California home were beaten, shackled, starved and even taunted with food that they were forbidden to eat, a prosecutor said on Thursday.
The victims, ages 2 to 29, were severely malnourished, suffering from muscle wasting and stunted growth. Several had cognitive impairment and nerve damage from extreme and prolonged physical abuse, the prosecutor said.
Each parent faces 94 years to life in prison if convicted on more than two dozen charges including torture, child abuse and false imprisonment in a case that has shocked the nation and prompted calls for greater supervision of home schooling.
The father, David Turpin, 57, is also accused of sexually abusing one of his young daughters. He and his wife, Louise, 49, sat without speaking, dressed in dark clothes during their initial court appearance on Thursday. The husband hunched over the defense table with his hands in his…