A California couple has been charged with child endangerment and torture after police on Sunday discovered 12 of their children locked inside their home, some in chains and starving, officials said.

A 17-year-old girl managed to escape the house in Perris, California, and alerted authorities that her 12 brothers and sisters were being held captive by their parents, according to a police statement .

The Riverside County Sheriffs Department dispatched deputies alongside officers from the Perris Police Department to meet the teenager, who they said looked to be only 10 years old and slightly emaciated.

Authorities went to the residence and questioned the parents, David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49.