ABC News is conducting its own ongoing investigation into Riverside County’s treatment of the 13 Turpin children and petitioned the probate court for access to confidential conservatorship records, which was granted in part on March 10, The Press-Enterprise and Desert Sun reported.
It was recently revealed in a hearing on Feb. 24 that partners Stephen G. Larson and Hilary Potashner, who were hired to conduct an independent investigation of Riverside County on the same matter, had not been allowed access to important records. Stephen and Hilary petitioned for access to the same records as ABC News, “but the judge has not yet ruled on the request,” Desert Sun noted.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fernandez “ordered the unsealing of ‘hundreds and hundreds of documents’” about the Turpins’ treatment while in County care as a result of the ABC News petition, The Press-Enterprise explained, but rejected the request to release the addresses of where the Turpins had lived during that time.
Stephen and Hilary’s findings are to be reported at the end of March and will be, as Riverside County Director of Communication Brooke Federico stated, “an analysis of the County’s adult and child welfare systems as a whole, which is a critical part of the investigation.”
Read the full article by Brian Rokos of The Press-Enterprise here and the full article by Christopher Damian of Desert Sun here covering the release of records.
