RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California county and a foster care agency have agreed to a $13.5 million settlement with six children who were placed in an abusive home after being rescued from squalid and abusive conditions in their parents' home.
Riverside County will pay $2.25 million to six of the Turpin children, most of whom are now adults, and ChildNet, a care agency, will pay $11.25 million, according to a copy of the settlement.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of the six Turpin siblings alleged that the Olguin family, which took them in after they were rescued from their parents’ home in 2018, hit them with sandals, pulled their hair, forced them to eat their own vomit and made them recount their trauma.
Marcelino Olguin pleaded guilty to lewd acts on a child, false imprisonment and injuring a child and was sentenced in 2024 to seven years in prison, while his wife and adult daughter were sentenced to probation for child cruelty.
“They literally told us, 'Nobody wants you. You're never going to find a better place than this,'” Jolinda Turpin, 20, said in an interview with ABC's Diane Sawyer that aired this week. She spoke along with two of her siblings. “Something good needs to come from this. It has to, and I can't accept it not.”
Attorneys for the six siblings said in a statement Wednesday that the settlement brings to a close cases that helped spur critical improvements in Riverside County's child welfare system.
“These concrete and long-overdue steps toward improving child safety were accomplished as a direct result of the Turpins bravely coming forward and insisting that their suffering lead to meaningful change to protect other children,” attorneys Roger Booth and Elan Zektser said in the statement. “Their courage, resilience, and unwavering commitment to protecting other foster children is extraordinary.”
The six plaintiffs were rescued along with seven other siblings from the Perris, California, home of their parents. David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children, starving them and providing only a minimal education. They were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
In the settlement agreement, Riverside County and ChildNet denied the wrongdoing. In a statement, Riverside County Executive Officer Jeff Van Wagenen said the county is committed to the “wellbeing and long-term healing” of all 13 siblings and has made changes since the case came to light, including increased coordination between child welfare and law enforcement agencies and growing the number of trained social workers.
“The trauma endured by this family is heartbreaking. The abuse these children suffered in both their biological and adoptive homes was tragic and unacceptable,” Van Wagenen said. “No one wants this to happen again.”
Eric Rose, a spokesperson for ChildNet, said in a statement that the agency did not receive complaints or allegations of abuse while the children were in the agency's foster care program, and that these were raised after the children were no longer in ChildNet's care.
“Our mission has always been, and remains, to help vulnerable children heal, grow, and succeed. That mission guided every decision in this case and continues to guide our work today,” Rose said.
A report found that the social service system failed the Turpin children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 when they were rescued by authorities after their 17-year-old sister escaped and called 911.
FILE - These undated photos provided by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department show David Allen Turpin, left, and Louise Anna Turpin. (Riverside County Sheriff's Department via AP, File)
FILE - A police car drives past the home of David and Louise Turpin, where police arrested the couple accused of holding their foster children captive, on Jan. 24, 2018, in Perris, Calif. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis man was arrested Thursday on charges of cyberstalking and threatening to kill or assault Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers involved in the crackdown in Minnesota.
Federal prosecutors said in a statement that Kyle Wagner, 37, of Minneapolis, was charged by complaint, and that a decision to seek an indictment, which is necessary to take the case to trial, would be made soon.
Court records in Detroit, Michigan, where the case was filed, did not list an attorney who could speak on Wagner's behalf. The complaint was filed on Tuesday and unsealed Thursday.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi alleged in a statement that Wagner doxed and threatened law enforcement officers, claimed an affiliation with antifa and “encouraged bloodshed in the streets.”
And at the White House on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt held up Weber’s photo at the daily briefing and said such conduct by “left-wing agitators” won’t go unpunished.
“And if people are illegally obstructing our federal law enforcement operations, if they are targeting, doxing, harassing and vilifying ICE agents, they are going to be held accountable like this individual here who, again, is a self-proclaimed member of antifa. He is a domestic terrorist, and he will be held accountable in the United States,” Leavitt told reporters.
President Donald Trump announced in September that he would designate antifa a “major terrorist organization.” Antifa, short for “anti-fascists,” is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups and is not a singular entity. It consists of groups that resist fascists and neo-Nazis, especially at demonstrations.
When Trump administration border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that about 700 federal officers deployed to Minnesota would be withdrawn immediately, he said a larger pullout would occur only after there’s more cooperation and protesters stop interfering with federal personnel.
According to prosecutors, Wagner repeatedly posted on Facebook and Instagram encouraging his followers to “forcibly confront, assault, impede, oppose, and resist federal officers” whom he referred to as the “gestapo” and “murderers.”
The complaint alleges Wagner posted a video last month that directly threatened ICE officers with an obscenity-laden rant. “I’ve already bled for this city, I’ve already fought for this city, this is nothing new, we’re ready this time," he said, concluding that he was “coming for” ICE.
The complaint further alleges that Wagner advocated for physical confrontation in another post, stating: “Anywhere we have an opportunity to get our hands on them, we need to put our hands on them.”
It also details how Wagner used his Instagram account to dox a person identified only as a “pro-ICE individual” by publishing a phone number, birth month and year, and address in the Detroit suburb of Oak Park, Michigan. The complaint says Wagner later admitted that he doxed the victim’s parents’ house.
Federal prosecutors didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on why the case was filed in Michigan instead of Minnesota. The alleged doxing was the only Michigan connection listed in the complaint.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Minnesota has been hit by the resignations of several prosecutors in recent weeks amid frustrations with the surge and its handling of the shooting deaths of two people by government officers. One lawyer, who told a judge that her job “sucks,” was removed from her post.
Trump’s chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota, Dan Rosen, told a federal appeals court in a recent filing that his office is facing a “flood of new litigation” and is struggling to keep up just with immigration cases, while his division that handles civil cases is down 50%.
Rosen wrote that his office has canceled other civil enforcement work “and is operating in a reactive mode.” He also said his attorneys are “appearing daily for hearings on contempt motions. The Court is setting deadlines within hours, including weekends and holidays. Paralegals are continuously working overtime. Lawyers are continuously working overtime.”
Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker and Nathan Ellgren in Washington contributed.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a photo of Kyle Wagner, as she speaks during a briefing at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a photo of Kyle Wagner, as she speaks during a briefing at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
FILE - An FBI seal is displayed on a podium before a news conference at the field office in Portland, Ore., Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
