New charges for California dad in child torture case

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors have filed eight new charges against a California father accused of shackling and starving some of his 13 children.

The Riverside County district attorney’s office charged David Turpin with eight counts of perjury Friday. His attorney declined to comment.

Turpin and his wife previously pleaded not guilty to torture, child abuse and other charges.

Turpin didn’t enter a plea to the new charges, which prosecutors say stem from paperwork he filed with the California Department of Education certifying that his children were receiving a fulltime education in a private day school.

The couple was arrested in January after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from the family’s home in Perris, California and called 911. Authorities say the evidence of starvation was obvious, with the oldest sibling weighing only 82 pounds.