Parents who starved and shackled children sentenced to life

A California couple who for years starved a dozen of their children and kept some shackled to beds were sentenced today to life in prison, ending a shocking case that revealed a house of horrors hidden behind a veneer of suburban normalcy.

The conditions inside David and Louise Turpin's home in suburban Los Angeles came to light only after one of their daughters fled and pleaded for help to a 911 operator. The parents pleaded guilty in February to neglect and abuse.

The sentencing was preceded by the first public statements from some of the children, who alternately spoke of love for their parents and of what they had suffered, as the couple wiped away tears. None of the children was publicly identified.

One of the adult children walked into court already in tears, holding hands with a prosecutor.

The Turpins will be eligible for parole after 25 years.