Abuse by foster parents in California is worse than abuse by biological parents – The Mercury News

Nearly all of David and Louise Turpin’s 13 children endured years of torture, neglect and psychological harm before fleeing their Perris home in 2018, prosecutors said.

But the six minor children subsequently placed with the foster family of Marcelino, Rosa and Lennis Holguin endured even more horrific abuse during their three years there than they did while trapped for years with their parents, largely out of the public eye, it is claimed attorneys representing Six of the two lawsuits against Riverside County and the foster care agency said at a news conference Monday. October 21.

Defense attorneys Roger Booth and Elan Zeckzer spoke outside the Riverside County Hall of Justice, where the Turpin parents were convicted in 2019 of their crimes and the Holguins were sentenced Friday. Lawyers also said the lawsuits, filed two years ago, seeking unspecified damages and alleging the defendants failed to protect the Turpins, could go to trial late next summer.

Unlike the Turpins, who pleaded guilty to torture, false imprisonment and child endangerment, one of the Holguins – 65-year-old Marcelino Holguin – admitted to seven counts of sexual assault and indecent acts on a minor.

“What happened in this house is worse than what happened in their biological parents’ house,” Zekzer said. “So some of them are very relieved that the Holguins won’t do this to another child.”

The attorneys relayed harsh comments from the youngest Turpins, who are now, with one exception, adults. The Turpins were critical of the way Riverside County Child Protective Services officials monitored their safety and investigated reports of abuse, as well as ChildNet, the state-licensed business that placed them with the Holguins.

“They thought the district and ChildNet were worse than the Holguins themselves,” Zekzer said. “They were told over and over again, ‘You are safe. We got you, trust us,” and then they were put here. With a child molester.

Booth acknowledged that CPS had difficulty gaining access to ChildNet records, as former federal judge Stephen Larson noted in his 2022 report on the county’s “failed” support for the Turpins after their escape.

County Department of Human Services spokeswoman S.L. Lopez said in a written statement Monday that the county no longer has a contract with ChildNet, which changed its name to Foster Family Network in 2023.