A Pennsylvania mother and stepfather have been charged with endangering the welfare of children after their twin teens were found “very malnourished and extremely thin.”
A criminal complaint says that Joshua and Tracy Dechant face two felony counts in Lehigh County, KYW reports.
The county district attorney’s office said that Pennsylvania State Police responded to a Lower Macungie Township neighborhood on January 22 for a report of a naked boy knocking on doors and asking for help.
The neighbor who called said that the 15-year-old boy “would not stop eating” once they let him come inside. The boy told investigatoars that his stepfather sends him outside to run naked as punishment — even when temperatures dip into the single digits, as they had on that day.
The district attorney’s office said that troopers contacted the boy’s twin brother, who corroborated what the child said, adding that both parents forced the twins to walk around naked, frequently denied them food or water, and left them to sleep on the floor with only one blanket to share.
Both boys were taken to a hospital for treatment, where they weighed in at 53 and 55 pounds, nearly a 100 pounds less than the average weight for their age and size. Medical records showed the boys had gained just 10 pounds each in the last eight years.
Both boys were taken out of the home and placed with other family members.
District Attorney Gavin Holihan said investigators believe the boys were not “in brick-and-mortar school” and did not see “live teachers on a regular basis.”
“We don’t believe they were getting medical care on a regular basis for the last eight years, and at this point early in the investigation, we don’t have any information that they were seen people interacting with people on a regular basis,” he said.
An older sister, who did not live in the home, told investigators she was subjected to the same treatment when she did live there.
The Dechants were given bails of $75,000 and are due in court for preliminary hearings on February 3.
