At 17, Jordan Turpin escaped 'The House of Horrors'. The abuse continued in foster care.

In the early morning of January 14, 2018, Jordan Turpin, then 17, climbed out the window of her family's home in California.

Clutching her brother's old, deactivated phone, she called 911. The world would later know her family home as 'The House of Horrors'.

"I live in a family of 15 people and my parents are abusive," she told the operator. "My two little sisters, right now, are chained up... with chains. They're chained to the bed."

Watch: "My parents are abusive." Jordan Turpin's 911 call. Post continues below.

With that phone call, Jordan managed to help save her 12 siblings from years of abuse at the hands of their own parents, David and Louise Turpin. The siblings, aged between two and 29, were held captive in the family room for years on end, with the Turpin parents depriving them of food, education, medical care, and basic hygiene.

After the parents were arrested by police, and later sentenced to life in prison, five of the 13 children were put into the foster care system. 

But the nightmare continued.

Jordan recently shared that she and two of her siblings were placed in an abusive foster home, re-traumatising them after all they had experienced at the hands of their parents.

In a recent profile with Elle Magazine, Jordan said she remembers being coached by her foster parents before her mandated therapy sessions. They insisted she maintain "a happy front". 

Jordan and those two siblings (identified as Jane and John Doe) have since filed lawsuits against Riverside County and ChildNet Youth and Family Services, a private foster care agency, alleging they were faced with "severe abuse and neglect".

In the lawsuit, they alleged the foster family had a prior history of abusing children - but organisations were also aware of that history and failed to act even after the children asked for help. 

"I'm not ready to go into details about what happened to me in that home. I was very traumatised, and it's been a very scary journey," she told People. 

"It was really hard to understand the first situation [with my parents]. Then going into another, that was just really, really hard. You have all these questions and you just don't get the answer. It was impossible to sleep. Every time my eyes would close, I dreamed about being [in my first foster home]. I had to go to the emergency room a lot. I was really, really broken."

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A post shared by Jordan Turpin (@jordan__turpin)

During that time, Jordan turned to TikTok for "self-expression and self-education". With access to the internet for the first time in her life, she began to understand her rights. So when she started an account and her foster parents told her to delete the videos, she refused.

At 21, Jordan escaped the foster care system. But money also proved to be a big issue. When the news broke about 'the House of Horrors', donations began to pour in for the siblings to assist in their rehabilitation. However, the adult siblings faced significant challenges in accessing these funds or even social services. The donations were placed in a trust controlled by a court-appointed public guardian.

One of the oldest siblings, Joshua Turpin, said he couldn't access funds to cover transportation needs and when he asked for help, the public guardian simply told him: "Just go Google it." 

It was at this point that Jordan decided to do all she could to help her siblings financially. And the best way to do this was to harness the attention on her family's case, grow her TikTok account, and take any opportunity that landed on her doorstep.

She and her sister Jennifer Turpin did an interview with Diane Sawyer in late 2021. 

Jennifer is the only other Turpin sibling who has a public profile. Jennifer regularly shares content to Instagram and TikTok about her life, including the fact she is part of the LGBTQIA+ community and loves to sing Christian music. 

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A post shared by Jordan Turpin (@jordan__turpin)

Jordan now has a major Hollywood publicist and almost one million followers on TikTok. 

She moved into her first apartment in Southern California last year, and is now helping to financially support her siblings.

"At first it was scary. It's expensive, and you're not aware of how much you're gonna need. But I love design and decorating, and I'm a very organised person," she told People.

@jordan_turpin

Here at the Elle shoot. I had so much fun. Thank you to my team and to Elle for making this happen for me!🥰💜

♬ original sound - Jordan Turpin

"Sometimes I walk into my apartment and literally think, 'Is this real?' I'm more independent and can just be myself. I've been feeling like my life is about to actually start."

But there are still frequent reminders for Jordan of the childhood she endured.

During a profile with Elle, the journalist recounted a story Jordan shared about a Pilates class she attended where she struggled to lie on her back due to lingering injuries to her spine and muscles from being abused.

"We all know how bad [the house] was, but we realise now how much they took from us. If I had eaten more, I'd probably be taller. And I'd be more healthy, and I'd probably... it really gets to us."

But Jordan said she is now on a path to emotional recovery, hoping her TikTok dancing videos with "sunny" and positive captions "make someone's day".

As for her bond with her siblings, Jordan said they remain "very, very close".

"We have inside jokes and have so much fun together. After everything that happened, and after escaping, I'm so protective over each one. They always know they have me."

Feature Image: TikTok/Police.