Lawyers speak out after Turpin siblings’ adoptive parents sentenced in child abuse case

A California man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for abusing the foster children he placed in his care, including some who had previously been tortured by their parents.

Marcelino Holguin, 65, was handcuffed and led away by sheriff’s deputies in a Riverside courtroom after a brief sentencing hearing. Holguin previously pleaded guilty to indecent acts on a child, false imprisonment and injury to a child, while his wife Rosa and adult daughter Lennis pleaded guilty to child abuse. Each of the women was sentenced to four years of probation.

“Today’s sentencing marks a significant step in securing justice for victims who endured unimaginable violence,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement. “These children were left in a vulnerable position after experiencing severe trauma, only to be further exploited by those entrusted with their care.”

The Holguins’ lawyers said the plea agreement allowed the women to avoid prison time.

“My client saved his family,” Paul Grech, Marcelino Holguin’s lawyer, said after the hearing. He declined to discuss the matter further.

The Holguin family was tasked with caring for the children after they were rescued from horribly abusive conditions at their parents’ home in the Perris community in Southern California. Their parents, David and Louise Turpin, pleaded guilty in 2019 to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children, starving them and providing them with only a minimal education. Turpin’s parents were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

On Friday, the victim’s lawyer read to the court a statement prepared by one of the Terpin children, who lived in the Olgins’ house.

“All I wanted was to finally find a loving family and recover from my trauma, but unfortunately I did not get that,” the statement said. The victim, who has not been named, is still recovering and learning to trust but forgives his family in an act of faith, the statement said.

The report says the social service system failed the Turpin children, ages 2 to 29, when authorities rescued them from their parents’ home after their 17-year-old sister ran away and called 911. The six children were eventually placed in Holgins.

Attorneys representing some of the Turpin children have filed a civil lawsuit against Riverside County, alleging the Holguins abused minors in their care. The couple hit the children in the face with sandals, pulled them by the hair, forced them to eat their own vomit, and forced them to sit in a circle and talk about the trauma they experienced in their parents’ home, lawyers wrote in the lawsuit filed in 2022. Marcelino Holguin also said in the lawsuit accused of sexual assault.

Kia Feizou, who represented Lennis Holguin, said some of the allegations may have been “a little exaggerated” but it would be difficult to win the case with so much public attention. Doug Axe, who represented Rosa Holguin, said his client and her daughter may be considered accomplices but are not charged with the same degree of abuse.

“When the decision was made to end the conservatorship, it seemed to be in everyone’s best interest,” Axe said.