• The lawyer for the adult Turpin siblings is speaking publicly, a year after their parents, David and Louise Turpin, were arrested on the charge of abusing their kids and keeping them imprisoned at their California home.
  • Attorney Jack Osborn said the adult siblings are now living together and are learning what it means to be free.
  • They often visit their younger siblings, who are in foster care, and aren’t looking forward to the possibility of having to testify against their parents at trial, he said.

A year after David and Louise Turpin were arrested on charges of abusing their 13 children and keeping them imprisoned in their Southern California home, a lawyer for the adult children is speaking publicly.

Jack Osborn appeared on the “Today” show on Wednesday to update the public on how the adult siblings are doing.

Osborn said the older Turpin children are now living together, while their younger siblings, who are still minors, are in the foster-care system.

The children ranged in age from 2 to 29 when they were rescued last year. The adult siblings were so malnourished that their bodies were smaller than usual, leading authorities to think they were minors at first.

jack osborn

Foto: Jack Osborn.source"Today"

A year after one of the older children escaped the house and alerted authorities to the conditions they were living in under their parents' reign, the adult siblings are still getting used to their newfound life of freedom and continue to relearn basic life skills, Osborn said.

"For really the first time, they're able to make their own decisions and decide where they're going to eat. They decide where they're going to go, what they're going to study," Osborn said.

Read more: Everything you need to know about the case of David and Louise Turpin - the couple accused of holding their 13 children hostage

He added that the older children "may spend a long time processing" the years they were under the control of their parents and reconciling it with their "new normal."

But Osborn said they are surprisingly "not bitter." "They really take every day as it is, as a gift," he added.

Osborn said the older siblings frequently visit their younger siblings, who they are "extremely protective of."

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Foto: The Turpin children were imprisoned in their own home, above, with some found chained up.sourceAP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File

One thing that is causing them anxiety is the prospect that they may have to testify against their parents when they go to trial, he said.

David and Louise Turpin have pleaded not guilty to all of the nearly 50 charges against them, which include false imprisonment and child abuse. If convicted, they face the possibility of life in prison.

Osborn said his clients still feel for their parents.

"They do worry about their parents, and I think, at times, they do miss their parents," he said.

See the full story at NBC News »