Foster family accused of abusing five rescued Turpin siblings appear in court

The foster dad accused of sexually and physically abusing five of the younger Turpin children has appeared in court in Riverside, California, accompanied by his wife and daughter.

Marcelino Olguin, 64, was arrested in January 2021 and hit with 13 charges, including three counts of performing a lewd act with a child under 14, four counts of performing a lewd act with a child aged 14/15 and multiple counts of willful child cruelty.

Cops say Olguin was aided during his reign of terror by his wife Rosa, 59, and daughter Lennys, 38 – both of whom are also charged with several counts of willful child cruelty, witness intimidation and another of fraud, all of which apply to nine foster children who lived with them at their Perris, California, home.

Marcelino Olguin, 64, wife Rosa, 59, and daughter Lennys – all facing child abuse charges – appeared in court in Riverside, California Thursday

The Olguins, who at one point had nine foster children at their Perris, California, home, were appointed caretakers of five minor Turpin siblings after the abused children were rescued from their parents' house of horrors in 2018

The Turpin family made headlines in 2018 after 13 siblings were rescued from their parents' 'house of horrors' in Perris, California, where they were forced to live under horrific, abusive conditions 

Olguin, who appeared in court wearing a green patterned shirt and a pair of blue jeans, spoke just once during the brief hearing and replied 'si' when asked by Judge Gary Polk if he consented to having his pre-trial hearing delayed until August 4. 

Lennys, in a gray cardigan and jeans, and Rosa, who wore a pink fleece and jeans, also consented to having the hearing rescheduled and transferred to San Bernardino County.

During the hearing Judge Polk noted the case had already been active for 496 days but rubber-stamped the move.

Outside court and asked whether they regretted their behavior towards their vulnerable foster children, the Olguins refused to comment – although Lennys muttered 'Leave us alone' to a DailyMail.com photographer while Marcelino tried to hide his face.

Last year, DailyMail.com revealed the trio's arrest on abuse charges and confirmed that five of the younger Turpin children had been victimized via a relative.

According to charging documents seen by DailyMail.com, Marcelino targeted two of the girls – one of whom was under 14 at the time – for 'sexual touching' on their buttocks and upper thighs more than 50 times.

He also 'told them they were sexy, recommended they not wear undershirts, said they had beautiful skin, forcibly kissed them and pulled a minor on top of him,' according to a supporting affidavit written by investigator Thomas Salisbury.

Approached by a DailyMail.com reporter last year and asked about his alleged abuse of the Turpin children at his $585,000 four-bedroom house, Olguin replied 'F*** you' before hiding in his garage.

Outside court and asked whether they regretted their behavior towards their vulnerable foster children, the Olguins refused to comment – although Lennys muttered 'Leave us alone' to a DailyMail.com photographer while Olguin tried to hide his face

Olguin is facing 13 charges including three counts of performing a lewd act with a child under 14, four counts of performing a lewd act with a child aged 14/15 and multiple counts of willful child cruelty

During the hearing at the County of Riverside Hall of Justice Thursday, Olguin consented to having his pre-trial hearing delayed until August 4

The story of the Turpin children's rescue from their abusive parents, David and Louise Turpin, now 61 and 54 made global headlines in January 2018 after one daughter was able to escape from the house – also in Perris – and dial 911. 

Then aged between two and 29, the younger children were placed in foster care which in the case of five allegedly meant going from the frying pan into the fire when they were fostered by the Olguins.

According to court documents, the Olguins forced the children to take part in 'confession circle talk' where they were 'made to admit to their past sibling abuses, which their biological parents forced them to do'.

The confession circles allegedly began soon after the children arrived at the Olguin home despite the foster parents' knowledge of the 'egregious, lifelong, severe abuses' the minors had suffered at the hands of their parents.

One of the male Turpin children was singled out for extra abuse and was repeatedly imprisoned in his bedroom, 'cussed at', 'demeaned' and separated from his sisters. The Olguins also 'intentionally ruined his media devices,' Salisbury wrote.

All five were also threatened with never seeing their older siblings again if they didn't comply with the Olguins' wishes.

According to the report, Lennys also scratched the top of one girl's hand and, when she was holding a metal coin, moved her hand close to an electrical outlet saying 'You want to get shocked?'

Along with the Turpins, the Olguins were fostering another four children – among them a five-year-old girl who was given sleeping pills and then forced to stand while the trio rang bells in her ear and sprayed water in her face so she couldn't fall asleep.

Three of the Turpin girls sued Riverside County Children's Services Division and contractor ChildNet in July for placing them in the Olguins' home in April 2018 

Police raided the Turpins' four-bedroom house in Perris, California in early 2018 and found many of the malnourished children shackled to their beds by chains, living in unimaginable filth

This was 'all while repeating the revenge phrase; 'You don't let us sleep, we're not letting you sleep',' investigator Salisbury wrote. The little girl collapsed and fell on the hard tile floor, he added.

They also locked the girl – identified as V#1 – in her room for nine hours a day and failed to change her diaper.

'They frightened V#1 by telling her spiders were in the bathroom. They held her in that dark, noisy, scary bathroom (which contained a large decorative spider at one point) despite V#1's crying/panicked pleas to be let out.

'They beat V#1 with sandals,' added Salisbury, 'choked her, threw her, and knocked her front tooth out by throwing her down several steps.'

The Olguins also encouraged two of their foster children to fight each other, the court papers allege, calling one a filthy a**hole and 'motherf***er,' while another was told she would end up as 'a white piece of s**t on the curb' like her biological mother.

They are also accused of physically abusing those same two children, with Rosa said to have dragged one of them by her hair 'which resulted in her hair being pulled out.'

Both Marcelino and Rosa Olguin are certified foster carers and were approved to take in the Turpin children by the Riverside County Children's Services Division.

Olguin has been charged with seven counts of committing a 'lewd and lascivious act on a child' and six of torture

David and Louise Turpin – who are now serving life in prison – regularly beat and restrained their children, fed them just once a day, and only allowed them a shower once a year

Social services in the county have been heavily criticized over the children's plight with a report published last July noting that the Turpins 'experienced further harm by a system that was meant to protect them'.

The 600-page Larson report also said the older Turpin children had experienced problems with accessing cash raised for their care while the younger Turpins faced abuse at the hands of their foster parents.

It continued: 'Specifically, some of the younger Turpin siblings were placed with caregivers who were later charged with child abuse.

'Some of the older siblings experienced periods of housing instability and food insecurity as they transitioned to independence.'

Both Turpin parents are now serving life sentences after being found guilty of systematically abusing their 13 children by beating and starving them, chaining them to the wall as punishment and allowing them just one shower a year.

David Turpin is currently in the protective custody unit at Corcoran State Prison while his wife Louise is serving her sentence in the Central California Women's Prison in Chowchilla.