Commentary: What can we learn from Perris torture case?

As most everyone knows by now, one of the most heinous cases of human abuse in Riverside County history took place less than a mile from Menifee -- and has made news around the world.

Not since the murder of 10-year-old Terry Smith in Menifee in 2013 and the protests over busing of undocumented immigrants into Murrieta in 2014 has the national media descended in such numbers upon this area. The charges announced by Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin against David and Louise Turpin of Perris are so numerous and extreme, they are virtually unfathomable.

At a press conference in Riverside Thursday, Hestrin announced that each of the suspects has been charged with 12 counts of torture, 12 counts of false imprisonment, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, and six counts of child abuse against the 13 children they kept confined to a home in the Monument Ranch development of Perris.

David Turpin also has been charged with one count of a lewd act on a child under the age of 14 by force, fear, or duress. Each defendant faces a potential sentence of about 94 years to life in prison.

Details given by Hestrin Thursday after the children were interviewed and evidence recovered were horrific. A 29-year-old -- oldest of the children, who were all malnourished -- weighs just 82 pounds. As punishment, the children were beaten and sometimes chained to beds or furniture for weeks at a time, apparently not released even to go to the bathroom. They were fed just once a day and sometimes were forced to watch their parents eat meals in front of them.

Hestrin also said that during part of the time the family lived in Texas, the parents lived apart from the children and only came to their house to feed them. Some of the children lacked cognitive abilities, he said, and didn't even know what a police officer was when Sheriff's deputies came to rescue them.

David and Louise Turpin pleaded not guilty to all counts Thursday in a Riverside courtroom. It is certain that as the investigation continues, even more grisly details will come out.

So what are we as nearby residents to take away from these horrible crimes? Is there a lesson we can learn from this? Obviously, we already know not to starve our children, beat them and chain them to their beds. Is there any new lesson that can be learned?

There is one thing we should already know but perhaps need to be reminded about. That's the need to be willing to get to know and communicate with our neighbors. Perhaps it wouldn't have been possible for neighbors in the Monument Ranch community to learn of the abuse and report it to authorities before now, but it certainly might be possible for us to become more aware of our neighborhood surroundings and less afraid to report suspicious circumstances.

In many cases, this kind of neighborly familiarity is not easy. Many Menifee residents work outside the area and spend hours commuting. Time at home is valuable and often is limited to activities inside the home. Block party? What's that? Borrowing a cup of sugar next door? You might not even know your neighbor's name, or be afraid to approach them.

"A neighbor asked me, how does this happen and we not know this?" said Kimberly Milligan, who lives across the street from the house where the crimes occurred. "I said, ‘You know what? We live in California. We don’t know our neighbors like we used to before. We don’t socialize like that.'

"This was almost the perfect storm to make something like this happen, because we’re kind of off to ourselves in this community with not much around us."

Monument Ranch was built in an area surrounded by open fields northwest of the Menifee-Perris border at the intersection of Ethanac Road and Goetz Road. It's true that the community residents are pretty much off by themselves. Of course, that doesn't mean they can't form a Community Watch program and be aware of their surroundings.

The rest of us? We must be patient with an understaffed police force. We should make an effort to get to know our neighbors and to network with them, perhaps through a Neighborhood Watch group, to work together in protecting ourselves and our neighborhood. Apps like nextdoor.com are helpful, but face-to-face contact usually is best.

If we all work together, we can make a difference.

David and Louise Turpin have a felony settlement conference scheduled for Feb. 23 at the Hall of Justice in Riverside. The DA’s Office asks that anyone with any information about this case contact DA’s Sr. Investigator Wade Walsvick toll-free at 888-934-KIDS (5437) or 951-955-4KID (4543) or email wadewalsvick@rivcoda.org.