A California man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for abusing foster children he had assigned to care for in his home, including some who had previously been tortured by their parents.
Marcelino Olguin, 65, was handcuffed and led by sheriff's deputies to a courtroom in Riverside after a brief sentencing hearing. Olguin previously pleaded guilty to lewd acts on a child, wrongful imprisonment and injury to a child, while his wife, Rosa, and adult daughter, Lennys, pleaded guilty to child cruelty. Each of the women was sentenced to four years of formal probation.
“Today's sentencing marks a significant step in delivering justice to victims who suffered unimaginable abuse,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement. “These children were placed in a position of vulnerability after surviving intense trauma, only to be further exploited by someone entrusted with their care.”
The Olguins' lawyers said the plea agreement allowed the women to escape prison time.
“My client saved his family,” Paul Grech, Marcelino Olguín's lawyer, said after the hearing. He declined to discuss the case further.
The Olguín family was tasked with caring for the children after they were rescued from horribly abusive conditions in their parents' home in the Southern California community of Perris. Her parents, David and Louise Turpin, pleaded guilty in 2019 to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children, starving them and providing them with only a minimal education. Turpin's parents were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
A report found that the social services system failed the Turpin children, who were between the ages of 2 and 29 when they were rescued by authorities from their parents' home after their 17-year-old sister escaped and called 911. Ultimately, six of the children were placed with the Olguíns.
Lawyers representing some of the Turpin children filed a civil lawsuit against Riverside County alleging that the Olguins abused minors in their care. The couple hit the children in the face with sandals, pulled their hair, forced them to eat their own vomit and made them sit in a circle and recount the trauma they had experienced in their parents' home, lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. filed in 2022. The lawsuit also accused Marcelino Olguín of sexual abuse.
Kia Feyzjou, who represented Lennys Olguin, said some of the allegations may have been “a little exaggerated,” but winning a case with so much public scrutiny would have been difficult. Doug Ecks, who represented Rosa Olguín, said his client and her daughter could be seen as enablers, but they did not face abuse charges to the same extent.
“When there was a resolution that didn't involve custody, it seemed like the best thing for everyone,” Ecks said.
On Friday, a lawyer for the victims read in court a statement prepared by one of the Turpin children who had stayed at the Olguin home.
“All I wanted was to finally have a loving family and recover from my trauma, but unfortunately I did not receive it,” the statement said. The victim, who was not identified, is still recovering and learning to trust, but forgives the family in an act of faith, according to the statement.
Taxin writes for the Associated Press
