California Family Update: Eldest Turpin Sibling Bullied At School Over Smell

After shocking revelations emerged on Jan. 14 that 13 siblings in Southern California were allegedly held captive and tortured by their parents, a former male classmate of the eldest daughter provided a lengthy post on social media that detailed how she was relentlessly bullied during elementary school due to her smell and frail appearance.

Jennifer Turpin, 29, the eldest child allegedly imprisoned by parents David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, weighed 82 pounds upon being discovered by the police, the Associated Press reported. A viral Facebook posting shed light on how the "frail girl" was treated by classmates.

Taha Muntajibuddin, who was a classmate of Jennifer Turpin from kindergarten through third grade in Fort Worth, Texas, claimed she was the grade's "cootie kid" in a Jan. 18 Facebook posting.

"Jennifer Turpin was the one girl at Meadowcreek Elementary that nobody wanted to be caught talking to," Muntajibuddin wrote. "Every grade level had a designated 'cootie kid' and she held the title for our year. She was a frail girl, had pin-straight hair with bangs, and often wore the same purple outfit.

"She was often made fun of by the other third graders because her clothes would sometimes look as though they had been dragged through mud, which she would also smell like on most days."

Muntajibuddin, who is a pediatrics resident doctor in Houston, even recalled a time where the entire third-grade class apparently scoffed at her for coming to school one day with her hair tied up in a scrunchie made of tin foil wrapper from a Hershey's chocolate bar, which the teacher apparently requested that she trash.

After learning of Jennifer Turpin in the news, Muntajibuddin expressed feeling an "overwhelming sense of guilt and shame" about her treatment in school.

"Of course, none of us are responsible for the events that ensued, but you can't help but feel rotten when the classmate your peers made fun of for 'smelling like poop' quite literally had to sit in her own waste because she was chained to her bed. It is nothing but sobering to know that the person who sat across from you at the lunch table went home to squalor and filth while you went home to a warm meal and a bedtime story," Muntajibuddin wrote.

He also wrote that Jennifer Turpin "was still one of the most pleasant people I have had the opportunity to meet. She had this whimsical optimism to her that couldn't be dampened, couldn't be doused no matter what anybody threw at her. That cheerful disposition is what makes me certain that Jennifer will prevail."

Muntajibuddin's post received over 5,500 shares, over 6,000 likes and nearly 1,000 comments, as the abuse involving the Turpin family continues to draw national headlines.

Jennifer Turpin was discovered with her 12 siblings living in foul conditions in Perris, California, after her teenage sister jumped out of a window to call the police before the family's scheduled move to Oklahoma, according to reports. Three of the Turpin kids were found chained to beds and furniture, whereas the remaining siblings were cramped inside a room filled with a repugnant odor.

David Turpin and Louise Turpin were arrested on Jan. 14 and later pleaded not guilty to charges of felony counts of torture, child abuse, abuse of dependent adults and false imprisonment. Bail has been set at $13 million each. They could face life in prison if found guilty.

"Deputies, when they arrived inside the house, noticed that the children were malnourished," said Capt. Greg Fellows, commander of the Perris Sheriff's Station at a news conference on Jan. 16. "It was very dirty, and the conditions were horrific."

"If you can imagine being 17 years old and appearing to be a 10-year-old, being chained to a bed, being malnourished and [having] injuries associated with that — I would call that torture," Fellows added.

The Riverside County District Attorney's Office is currently seeking to obtain a judge's order that would prohibit the couple from getting in contact with the children ahead of the trial.