In a recent development in Riverside County, foster father Marcelino Olguin has been sentenced to seven years in prison for child abuse, including lewd acts on a child and false imprisonment. His wife Rosa and daughter Lennys received probation sentences for their involvement in the cruelty that further victimized some of the children previously tortured by their biological parents, the Turpins. As reported by CBS News, Marcelino's arrest came about after the Turpin children, placed in the Olguins' care, suffered additional abuse.
The Turpin siblings, once hopeful for a nurturing environment to recover from their prior ordeal with their biological parents, were dealt a grim reality. One child, not named, expressed their disappointment and ongoing struggle in a victim's statement read in court, saying, "All I wanted was to finally have a loving family and to recover from my trauma, but unfortunately I did not receive that," as reported by NBC Los Angeles. The sentencing comes in the wake of allegations and a lawsuit involving the Olguins' abusive actions, which included hitting the children with sandals and forcing them to recount their traumatic experiences.
The response to this injustice has led to demands for change and compensation from Riverside County and a private foster care agency responsible for placing the children with the Olguins. Attorneys representing the Turpin children emphasized the need for systematic changes within the county's Department of Social Services. "Then they were placed here with a child molester. They were placed here with child abusers," Elan Zektser, an attorney for some of the Turpin children, told NBC Los Angeles. The attorneys are also pursuing financial compensation for the victims, though the amount remains confidential.
At the sentencing, neither Marcelino nor his family members provided a statement to Judge Gail O'Rane. As events unfolded, the complicity of the accused became a contentious topic. "My client saved his family," Marcelino Olguin's attorney, Paul Grech, said outside court, providing no further details, as captured by Mercury News. The Turpin parents are currently serving 25-year to life sentences for their abhorrent treatment of their children, which came to light when one of the teenage children escaped and sought help in 2018.
