california house parents held children prisoner *may trigger?**

[shakeyourcaboose]

Just woken to news on radio of house in California where police have rescued a family of 11 children whose parents have allegedly chained them to beds and walls after the eldest 17 yo girl escaped. Horrible.

biological children of both parents?
I hadn't heard "categorically no evidence of sexual abuse" before, fair enough. Although the speed with which they can be sure of that is impressive, indeed.

there are going to be a lot crazier theories than mine. My crazy theory is pretty damn tame compared to shouting that all that all the neighbours were selfish pigs who fully knew but chose to do nothing.

I assume the family belonged/ascribed to a 'quiverfull' or similar christian group. (The matching dresses are a giveaway, there is no notion of individuality, it is all about conforming to the authority or 'headship') They have very tight regulations and a big concept is obedience. The father is the headship and he must discipline and control his flock. That means financially, behaviour-wise, food intake, education. Google The Pearls who wrote a book about instilling control and discipline within your children. It is suggested to make a 'switch' out of young branches and to use this from 6 months on your baby for when he/she disobeys. The Duggars did 'blanket training' which is advocated by the Pearls. You set the baby on the blanket and if it tries to move off then you 'correct' it. Eventually the baby will stay for up to an hour just sitting on the blanket so that the Mum can get chores done in peace.

Usually people who ascribe to this way of life live rurally, purposefully away from prying eyes so this type of abuse is probably much more common. 'Survivors' claim that physical and mental abuse is part of everyday life.

We can hope that some of the saner members of Quiverful movement will step up to bat to give the kids support.

I'm still at a loss as to how the authorities can be so adamant at this stage that all children are the biological children of both parents.

I haven't seen the statement on the news (have only seen the BBC News report), but I wonder if what they are saying is that there are no abducted children within the cohort? I would imagine there could be so many families with missing children who's hopes might be raised by the discovery of children held captive, that they wanted to put that clarification out?

Missing the point somewhat, but the mother looks in amazing shape for being 49 and having had 13 children.

How horrific for those children, and adult children. I hope they can find a normal life in time.

wisteria when you say "correct" the baby, do you mean they hit? Hit the baby? Brain cannot compute

May the Duggars use the term "correction" but would not specify what it entailed. They did advertise and endorse Pearl's To Train a Child book so it is widely speculated and assumed it was some sort of physical correction. These groups take the 'spare the rod, spoil a child' verse literally. Pearl suggests using the twig switch over the back of bare legs.

17 year old so brave to escape an amazing thing to do to alert people to what was going on otherwise dread to think how long it would of gone one for!!!
Can't believe -

They have so many children - they said that Jesus wanted them to have all of them
Agree the pics look weird boys with same haircuts etc
Apparently they all wore same clothes so they wouldn't get lost
The mum is smiling in her mugshot

DM just published pics of their old house. Scratch marks on the doors etc. Awful.

No way are all those kids just the mum and dads.

How much more of this is going on in the world? it breaks my heart!

Blanket training was taken from the book "To train up a child". The methods in the book have been linked to numerous child deaths. The author says that he "laughs at critics", because he only advocates hitting the child with a 15 inch rubber tube, which won't cause bone/muscle damage. He does still advocate using cold water, cold weather, isolation and starvation as punishment. This was written in the 1990's and has a solid support base.

I hope that this shows people that it's worth reporting any behavior that you think is strange. I don't think that you'll persuade the US that the fundamental/quiverfull Christian set-ups need examining, though.

Apparently they all wore same clothes so they wouldn't get lost

I think they say this as a cover for the real reason. The Duggars always said the same thing, they would dress everyone in exactly the same outfit (boys/girls versions) but 'survivors' say it is about suppressing any notions of being individual, which is thought to be selfish and harmful and not conducive to being obedient.

It doesn't surprise me that the mum is smiling in the mugshot, I do believe that a lot of the women are seriously mentally ill. Michelle Duggar said she spent most of her eldest dc's lives in tears because she couldn't cope with so many children in a tiny house but she felt she had to do it for God. These mum's lives dramatically improve when their eldest daughters get to age 10 or so as they take on the role of 'sister mom'. Michelle doesn't cook, clean or look after her children when they stop breastfeeding (before one year) It is the daughters job to assume this role and they drill it into them that they have to do these things "with a joyful for Jesus heart".

The mum is smiling in her mugshot

This is apparently a religious thing. The article linked below states

Mom smirking and spitting during arrest

The Turpins, who practice Pentecostal Christianity, felt “called by God” to sire the 13 kids, David’s parents.

Coughing and spitting are used in exorcism rites of some Pentecostal traditions, according to several books on the movement.

This is a good listing of the stories that have dripped out over the last two days.

California Horror House

Quiverfull families are absolutely nuts. There was a case in the 90s where one of them snapped and drowned her five kids in the bathtub. It turned out she had been taken off her schizophrenia medication so she could continue pumping out babies for Jesus, and was left alone with five young kids, having horrible delusions that they were the devil. It's no surprise that she snapped.

wonder where the duggers would be if tv hadnt snatched them up and paid amillion or so a year

On the mum smiling in her mugshot. My thoughts:

• she was conditioned to smiling in front of a camera
• she is genuinely confused about why she is in the police station
• serious detachment from reality

Presumably she thinks she's done nothing wrong.

Poor poor folks, hope they get all the help they will need for the rest of their lives.

I also wondered if the youngest child is actually the child of the wife, it is of course very possible she gave birth at 46 or 47 but it did cross my mind. However I hope they are correct in saying that no abuse occurred and the toddler is hers.

I thought maybe the whole family was conditioned to smile & pretend everything's fine in spite of their insane situation.

Especially the kids. Being "happy" got you food.

The hospital staff described the emaciated adults as "very friendly." Chilling :(.

Birdsgottafly I was absolutely incredulous when I first heard about that book "Train up a child". It is still for sale in the UK - it's a disgrace.

Latest from BBC news

In court today
Pleaded not guilty
Kids only allowed 1 shower a year
They slept in the day , stayed up all night and went back to bed at 4am
No toys
One meal a day
Lack of knowledge - didn't know what a policeman was

We can hope that some of the saner members of Quiverful movement
I'm inclined to think that sanity and being part of that movement are mutually exclusive?

There is at least one charge of sexual abuse.

Or lewd act on a child by force.