Retired sheriff's detective speaks out on investigation into Turpin children abuse cases
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A now retired Southern California sheriff's detective is speaking out about his investigation of the horrific crimes of sexual abuse and torture the 13 Turpin siblings suffered at the hands of their parents.
But the tenacious detective is also talking about his investigation into the abuse several of the siblings suffered years later, this time at the hands of their foster parents.
"I don't know what you would describe as far as torture goes," said Thomas Salisbury. "But that 5-year-old was being tortured on a daily basis. Being given sleeping pills, being made to stand in a little taped square.
"If she started to fall asleep, they'd spray her with a water bottle, they'd ring a cowbell. If she went down to the ground, they'd kick her and stuff. And they'd pick her up and lock her in a scary bathroom, and leave her in there until she settled down."
Salisbury was speaking about the crimes committed by the foster parents Marcelino, Rosa and Lennys Olguin, who were recently sentenced for their crimes.
Those crimes occurred months after the 13 Turpin siblings were rescued from a house of horrors in Perris, where they were tortured by their biological parents for more than a decade. Some of the children were chained to their beds for extended periods of time.
Salisbury remembers vividly the moment they walked the Turpin siblings into their Perris sheriff's station for interviews, in January 2018.
"I never thought of freedom as a right, until I walked into the station... and (the children) are literally walking around with their arms out soaking up the sun," said Salisbury.
Moments later, he began interviewing their mother Louise Turpin, and questioned her about their chaining of the children.
"How long did the chaining go on," Salisbury said he asked her. "And she looked at me and I was like a few hours? No response. One day? No response. A couple weeks? A couple months? And at that point in my mind, there was no explanation she could come up with that would make sense."
The biological parents, David and Louise Turpin, would later plead guilty and were sentenced to life in prison. That's when the minor children were all placed in foster care.
At first, Salisbury said there was no reason to be concerned.
"There were a lot of professionals involved," said Salisbury. "And I believed them when they said everything was fine. Yeah, there were minor issues, but nothing to worry about. Just little kids feeling bad (and those types of) problems, and I always hoped that's all it was."
But it wasn't. Jordan Turpin, who was the sibling who first escaped in early 2018 and alerted law enforcement to the abuse they were suffering at the hands of their biological parents, would be the one to sound the alarm again.
Salisbury said Jordan reached out to a juvenile advocate for a meeting about what was happening with the Olguins. That meeting was scheduled to last 30 minutes; but lasted four hours.
"(The Turpin siblings) don't lie. They might not tell you the truth because they're scared to tell the truth, but they're not going to lie to you. And if you get them in the right place with the right people, they'll open up," he said.
That's when Salisbury decided to investigate the situation for himself. He said he immediately found evidence that the children were once again being abused.
"As a human, I wanted to go right over there, but as a detective, I needed to verify," said Salisbury.
Still, despite the allegations, he said Riverside County officials did not want to remove the children from the home.
"I even explained to them, look, I'm a detective. I know you might not know me, but I've got 40 years of law enforcement (experience)," said Salisbury. "I've been to all the child abuse training. This is what needs to happen: these kids need to be removed."
But Salisbury said Riverside County officials refused his request.
"So, I'm like here's what's going to happen now; you're forcing my hand. I'm going to get arrest warrants and search warrants, and go over there, and I'm going to arrest these people."
Which is exactly what happened.
"And that's when (the Olguins) admitted to all the crimes, almost every crime we articulated here."
At a recent news conference held by attorneys representing several of the Turpin children, who are suing Riverside County following the abuse the siblings suffered at the hands of their foster parents, they called Thomas Salisbury a hero.
"He was the only one that once again listened to the Turpins when they were crying out for help. Not CPS, not ChildNet, but the Riverside County sheriff's department."
Riverside County provided the following statement to our sister station, ABC7 Eyewitness News in Los Angeles:
"The trauma this family endured is heartbreaking. We remain committed to their well-being and their lifelong journey of healing. We appreciate our County and community partners, who collaborate with us to support this family, and every family, with services and resources.
"The Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) no longer places children in homes through the agency formerly known as ChildNet. DPSS continues to address existing placement gaps and expand safe, available placements. Recently, the County invested more than $30 million to purchase and staff a therapeutic campus for children with complex needs awaiting placement.
"The County is dedicated to continuous quality improvement and we are constantly reviewing our practices, procedures and policies. Since 2022, we have implemented many of the Larson Report's recommendations and are in the process of implementing several more. By way of example, we have hired hundreds of additional social workers resulting in a significant reduction of caseloads."
