Parents Arrested For Using Stun Gun To Punish Their Kids

#1

The two couples -- Eduardo Vazquez, 22, William Torres-Morales, 22, Elizabeth Tarvin, 33, and Veronica Sanchez, 32 -- were arrested on charges that included aggravated child abuse, negligent child abuse and failure to report child abuse. They live together in the same home with nine children between the ages of 7 to 13, according to police.

#2

The state's Department of Children and Families told police in mid-July that it received a report that children were possibly being disciplined by their guardians with a handheld stun gun device, but deputies said Torres-Morales initially told police the children had actually used it on each other without permission.

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Eduardo Vazquez, 22, and William Torres-Morales, 22, were arrested and accused of using a stun gun to discipline the children over the course of several weeks, deputies said.

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Investigators said Torres-Morales eventually admitted that the adults used it for discipline. Torres-Morales allegedly said he and Vazquez made the male children do push-ups and stunned them if they couldn't do the amount they were instructed to do.

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When the first two victims were examined, doctors said one boy had 10 burn marks on his buttocks and the other boy had 15, investigators said.

When they went to the home, deputies reported that five more children had the same two-pronged burns on their buttocks and legs.

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Vazquez stated that "the children needed to be disciplined" and that he "used the Taser when they acted out," investigators said.

In one instance, Vazquez told deputies that he and Torres-Morales used the stun gun on July 16 to make some of the children do push-ups, PCSO said.

"Every time one of the children could not do one, they would use the Taser on the child," investigators said.

#7

Elizabeth Tarvin, 33, and Veronica Sanchez, 32, who were dating Vazquez and Torres-Morales. respectively, admitted to deputies that they knew the stun gun was being used on the children, PCSO said.

Neither was accused of using the stun gun on the children themselves.

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All four adults were charged with nine counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Vazquez and Torres-Morales were also charged with seven counts of aggravated child abuse, tampering with physical evidence and two counts of giving false information to a law enforcement officer.

They were being held on bonds totaling $475,000 and $455,000, respectively.

#9

Tarvin and Sanchez were also charged with nine counts of negligent child abuse and seven counts of failure to report child abuse.

Tarvin was being held at the Polk County Jail in lieu of bonds totaling $544,000; Sanchez was being held on bonds totaling $62,000.