A California man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for abusing a foster child he was assigned to care for in his home. Some of them had previously been tortured by their parents.
Marcelino Holguin, 65, was handcuffed and led away by sheriff's deputies in a Riverside courtroom after a brief sentencing hearing.
Holguin previously pleaded guilty to child molestation, false imprisonment and injuring a child, while his wife Rosa and adult daughter Lenise pleaded guilty to child abuse.
The women were each sentenced to four years of formal probation.
“Today's sentence is an important step in bringing justice to the victims who endured unimaginable abuse,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement.
“These children were vulnerable after surviving intense trauma and were then further exploited by someone entrusted with their care.”
Lawyers for the Holguins said the plea deal allowed the women to avoid prison time.
“My client saved his family,” Paul Grech, Marcelino Holguin's lawyer, said after the hearing. He declined to discuss the incident further.
The Holguin family was tasked with caring for the children after they rescued them from severe abuse at their parents' home in the Perris area of Southern California.
Parents David and Louise Turpin were found guilty in 2019 of torture and years of abuse, including shackling some of their 13 children, starving them and providing them with minimal education. I admitted it.
Turpin's parents were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
On Friday, the victim's attorney read in court a statement made by one of the Turpins' children who had been staying at the Holguins' home.
“All I wanted was to finally have a loving family and recover from my trauma, but unfortunately I didn't get that,” she said in a statement.
The victim, whose name has not been released, said in a statement that he is still recovering and learning to trust but has forgiven his family as an act of faith.
The report found that the social services system was inadequate for Turpin's children, ages 2 to 29, who were rescued from the family home by authorities after her 17-year-old sister ran away and called 911.
Six of the children were eventually placed in the care of the Holguin family.
Attorneys representing some of the Turpin children have filed a civil lawsuit against Riverside County, accusing the Holguins of abusing minors in their custody.
The couple hit the children in the face with sandals, pulled their hair, made them eat their own vomit, made them sit in circles and forced them to talk about the trauma they had experienced at the family home, lawyers say in a lawsuit filed by the couple. said. 2022.
Marcelino Holguin is also accused of sexual abuse in the lawsuit.
Kia Feige, who represented Lenise Holguin, said some of the allegations may have been “a little exaggerated” but that it would have been difficult to win in a case that attracted such public attention. Ta.
Doug Ecks, who represented Rosa Holguin, said that while his client and her daughter may be considered enablers, they are not accused of the same level of abuse.
“When there was a non-custodial resolution, it seemed like it was in everyone's best interest,” Ecks said.
