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AIBU?

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Original poster

Turpin horror house keeping me awake at night

172 replies

LivelyMummy · 18/01/2018 19:15

I should have listened to my mum - apparently when pregnant you should keep away from bad news, scary movies, sad people etc

Since the story broke out, it is on my mind all the time. 13 beautiful children - how lucky are these parents! Just why treat them like this? I'm heart broken for these children.

There is nothing I can do. I am so angry, so sad, so helpless...

Does anyone understand why the parents did this?

OP posts:
DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 13:21

if I was to put DDs clothes up to her, that she had 2 years ago, she went from about 4”6 to 5”3, from a shoe size 2 or 3 to a six, how these children didn’t grow is beyond me.

Well they were fed once a day so....

Idontevencareanymore · 19/01/2018 13:52

The whole thing is just horrifying. My heart goes out to the kids and grown up kids who've suffered for apparently years.
The Disney days out appall me. To think that's the only joy they had in their pitiful lives and were likely so grateful for it.

The woman though. Her mugshot? It makes me angry and scared. She's been arrested for having her children shackled and she's smiling almost? She looks like she's smirking.her picture gives me such a violent reaction.

I hope they get a good long sentence. And I hope those kids affectted manage to find some "normal" in time.

DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 14:00

I wonder how much of Disney they actually got to experience. Part of me wonders if the kids were alllowed to go on any of the rides or have any food while there. I can’t see those parents splurging on big Disney priced meals for them.

hungryhippo90 · 19/01/2018 14:16

Donny- im no nutritionalist but I don't think even feeding a child once a day would lead to that level of growth stuntedness.

Birdsgottafly · 19/01/2018 14:20

hungryhippo90 mental abuse, to use a catch all, also causes stunted growth, particularly in girls. We know this by children rescued from orphanages.

But so would the inability to move. The body feeds it's internal organs and tries to hold onto muscle, so it stops growing.

WaxOnFeckOff · 19/01/2018 14:27

You also don't know what being fed once a day consisted of. I'm guessing it wasn't a high calorie, nutritionally balanced meal full of healthy protein, vitamins and minerals. And we are not talking about short term here either. Some of these children and adults have been surviving on that for years as well as abuse and torture and no sunlight. Almost a text book recipe for stunted growth.

Birdsgottafly · 19/01/2018 14:34

From the reports it seems that they were all looked after as a baby. Then when they became a child, strange rules started and then neglect, then abuse, when they tried to object.

Going to college wouldn't mean that the Son knew that they could report their treatment to anyone, or that anyone would help them. So he probably just went back to his siblings and his normality.

As for dressing them the same, lots of religious families do this, to make their sexuality the property of the Father until he hands them over.

Giving your children a military regime isn't frowned upon in some sections of the US.

The Paternal Grandfather doesn't believe the stories and said in one interview that those saying it are trying to destroy Traditional Christian families. One member of her family has said that they are a respectable family, because the girls were kept modest. Which says it all really.

Original poster
LivelyMummy · 19/01/2018 14:36

@saladdays66 Maybe I should have explained. Some women feel down during their pregnancy (maybe because of hormones). Being around depressed people cannot help surely! I tend to agree with my mum on this one.

I used to live in the US - nor usual to see large families or children dressed the same! I once saw a brood of maybe 6 kids and 2 parents all wearing the same tshirt saying "the smith family" with their family photo on it.

OP posts:
DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 14:41

Donny- im no nutritionalist but I don't think even feeding a child once a day would lead to that level of growth stuntedness.

So what are you saying?

DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 14:42

Apparently one of the former homes was full of empty hot dog cans. Sounds like it made up a good part of their diet.

DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 14:45

Wasn’t there a study done of babies in An orphanage and the difference in growth between the ones who had interaction and bonded with their nurses and the ones who had no interaction at all? AFAIK the consensus was that love literally makes little things grow.

DownHereInTheHorridHouse · 19/01/2018 14:46

I don't know how anyone can possibly think there was no sexual abuse here - that the comment came from someone who says they have been on child protection courses is very worrying. Other comments in that post show a lack of understanding too - so, if people who think they are trained in this are so deluded, no matter it goes unreported. Add religion into the mix and . . .

I'm not a professional in this area, in that I'm not a psychiatrist or counsellor, but I have worked with a lot of survivors (ghostwriter), and whatever we all read/heard/discover is always just the tip of the iceberg. The degree of normalisation that some of the survivors themselves may have developed too will be something that onlookers will struggle with,

TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 19/01/2018 14:54

This may have already been mentioned as I haven't had time to RTFT yet, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the youngest is the child of one of the older girls/women + either the dad or one of the boys. I think we've only just scratched the surface.

FurCoatFurKnickers · 19/01/2018 14:56

What I found odd was her sister being reported as saying that the mother wouldn't accept her Facebook request.

When I looked at their Facebook page (now removed I think) the sister was commenting merrily away on all the photos.

Juancornetto · 19/01/2018 14:59

I think the photos that people could see on FB were profile pictures and cover photos and therefore public. Maybe you can comment on anyone's profile and cover pictures without having to be friends with them?

WaxOnFeckOff · 19/01/2018 15:00

yes, furcoat but when I checked the friends list she wasn't on it. When she was removed and whether she did that herself I don't know, she was certainly commenting on photos where the youngest was a baby so definitely not that long ago.

FurCoatFurKnickers · 19/01/2018 15:05

@Juancornetto There wasn't an option to comment on them, but if the sister was a friend of a friend she may well have been able to.

@WaxOnFeckOff Yes, she was also commenting on their most recent renewal of vows too. Could be as above, that as a FoaF she could comment on the pics.

The impression she gave was that she didn't interact with her on FB though. I think the sister may be doing damage limitation so it doesn't affect her career/business.

Doobigetta · 19/01/2018 15:23

It must have started before 2010. The oldest would have been 21 in 2010. Not saying that means she would have been immune to abuse, but she and the next few in line were already fully grown adults, it would have been too late for their growth to be stunted.

One thing that seems odd, though- almost all of them are girls. Why so few boys? You'd expect at least 4 or 5 out of 13, surely.

DonnyAndVladSittingInATree · 19/01/2018 15:37

Some families do seem more prone to one sex or the other. Both my parents are from big families and both have a large number of one sex and just a couple of the other.

Lunde · 19/01/2018 15:38

Surely there is a huge difference between dressing small children alike and requiring adult children to dress as small children?

In the 2016 vow renewal the eldest daughter must have been around 27! According to information released she weighed only 82lbs - around 5½ stone - when admitted to hospital. The adult children have suffered neurological damage from malnutrition

WaxOnFeckOff · 19/01/2018 15:39

My Dh is one of 6 - 5 boys and one girl.

ChaosNeverRains · 19/01/2018 15:57

It must have started before 2010. The oldest would have been 21 in 2010. Not saying that means she would have been immune to abuse, but she and the next few in line were already fully grown adults, it would have been too late for their growth to be stunted. not only that, but they would have been old enough to know what the norm was and to know that what they were being put through wasn’t normal. Far easier to condition younger children than adults who will already have seen some of the outside world.

WaxOnFeckOff · 19/01/2018 16:01

Articles say it started when they were living in Fort Worth Texas but I'm not sure of the dates for there though they were in Texas for 17 years.

toomuchconfusion · 19/01/2018 16:47

Fekko - It is the legal responsibility of the parents to ensure the child is receiving an education not the government. One of the reasons Ofsted is there is to report to the parents that a suitable education is being provided by the school.

I honestly don't see how one visit a year from the Local authority would be enough to spot abuse. There are so many cases of people abusing their children where despite repeated visits and monitoring they were able to hide that abuse. Also education and welfare are two very different things, LA visits would be there to monitor the education. Should we also be monitoring parents of under 5's to make sure there is no abuse before they attend school? Should we have yearly visits from the police just to prove we're not thieves or drug dealers? To what point are we happy to surrender our rights when the suggested monitoring would do absolutely nothing to prevent these types of cases. I think abusers are usually determined and manipulative, they would find a way.

It makes my heart hurt to think what these children have been through, I hope they can go on to heal from this and have something close to a normal life. I can understand why it's causing you anxiety OP, some stories can really get under your skin.

Saysomethingnice · 19/01/2018 17:38

Phone goodness I didn't even see the awful t shirt with thing written on them.
I too am terrified of all the the dc currently going through this sort of thing.

Surely the only thing to stop this is randomised drop in by authorities?