A Southern California couple accused of torturing their kids is taking a plea deal. David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty Friday in Riverside County Superior Court to torture and other abuse in a case dubbed a "house of horrors." The charges included abuse of their 12 oldest children.
A California prosecutor says the parents who shackled some of their 13 children to beds and starved them will spend up to life in prison.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin says the couple will be sentenced April 19th to 25 years-to-life in prison.
Hestrin says the guilty pleas were important to protect the children from having to testify.
The children, who ranged in age from 2 to 29 at the time, were severely underweight and had not bathed for months and the house reeked of human waste when the couple was arrested last year.