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Revealed: Inside Christian family whose children were found chained to their beds

The shocking conditions inside the home of a devoutly Christian family in Perris, California, were revealed when 911 operators received a phone call from a distressed girl on Sunday morning.

When Riverside County Sheriff deputies followed the 17-year-old girl's lead and entered a house on Muir Woods Road, they found a group of emaciated and malnourished children shackled to beds with chains and padlocks in "foul-smelling" conditions.

Their caller was one of thirteen children imprisoned in their own home by their parents, David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49 - only she had managed to escape and alert authorities to what had been going on inside the house.

Louise and David Turpin. Source: Riverside County Sheriff's Office.
Louise and David Turpin. Source: Riverside County Sheriff's Office.

The 17-year-old was so underweight, authorities initially thought she was about 10 years old.

New details are beginning to emerge about the Turpin family in what is already being called an American "house of horrors."

The thirteen Turpin children, aged between two and 29 years old, were reportedly home-educated by their father, who had previously worked as an engineer but had registered as an official 'principal' of the Sandcastle Day School at the family home.

The Perris, California house being described as
The Perris, California house being described as
A picture of David and Louise Turpin posted to their dual Facebook account. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin.
A picture of David and Louise Turpin posted to their dual Facebook account. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin.

Photographs have emerged of the children at various family events wearing eerily similar clothing and haircuts.

On family trips to Disneyland and Las Vegas, the children pose happily for photos that would later be posted to Facebook.

The children sported identical clothes and matching haircuts. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin
The children sported identical clothes and matching haircuts. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin
The children with their parents at Disneyland. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin
The children with their parents at Disneyland. Source: Facebook/DavidLouise Turpin

In one photo, at what appears to be a marriage vow-renewal ceremony, the children are lined up in an orderly row, the boys sporting bowl haircuts like their father and the girls wearing identical middle-parted long brown hairstyles like their mother.

Another photograph shows the children wearing T-shirts in which they are labelled "Thing 1", "Thing 2" and so on - a reference to Dr Seuss's characters in The Cat in the Hat.

Wearing numbered
Wearing numbered

David Turpin's West Virginia-based parents, James and Betty, told ABC News they were "surprised and shocked" by the allegations and had not seen their son and daughter-in-law in four or five years.

Similarly, neighbours are questioning how this seemingly nice, normal, quiet family could have been hiding such a dark secret.

"We're not acres apart," one neighbour said. "How did no-one see anything?"

A lawyer who represented the Turpins when they filed for bankruptcy in 2011 said he thought they were "very normal people who fell into financial problems."

"To me and my wife Nancy, who was with me during the interviews, we always thought of them as very nice people who spoke highly of their children," Ivan Trahan said.

According to Trahan, David Turpin had worked as an engineer and had had a relatively high income, but with 13 children, had trouble keeping the family's finances afloat.

The children are expected to be placed in care after they have been medically and psychologically examined in hospital.

David and Louise Turpin have been arrested on suspicion of torture and child endangerment, with bail set at $9 million for each.

The couple are due to appear in court on Thursday.