Trial set for California couple charged with torturing kids

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A trial date has been set for a Southern California couple charged with the torture and abuse of most of their 13 children.

A judge on Friday ordered that jury selection begin Sept. 3 in the case against David and Louise Turpin.

The couple has pleaded not guilty to charges that could carry a life sentence. They were arrested in January when a daughter escaped from the family’s Perris home and called 911.

Investigators said some of the children had stunted growth and wasted muscles and described being beaten, starved and put in cages.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports motions will be heard starting Aug. 12. One of the motions will be a request by the Turpins’ lawyer to move the trial out of Riverside County because of the publicity the case has received.