Men shocked children with stun gun for pushup failures, sheriff’s office says

According to the police report, doctors who initially examined the two boys described one boy as having 10 burn marks on his buttocks and the other having 15, both from a “two-pronged” instrument. A little-noticed bill that would let more people use Tasers and stun guns in MI is awaiting Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s signature, though critics hope she wields her veto pen.

Both women admitted they knew Vazquez and Torres-Morales were using stun guns to discipline the children but did nothing to stop it in fear of losing their relationships or losing the children.

Torres told the deputy he had discarded the stun gun after the children found it, the report said.

Two children, ages 8 and 11, were removed from the home by DCF.

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 pushups, PCSO said.

Their girlfriends – 33-year-old Elizabeth Tarvin and 32-year-old Veronica Sanchez – have also been taken into custody and face a number of charges.

A neighbor alerted the sheriff’s office and it found that 22-year-old Eduardo Vazquez and 22-year-old William Torres-Morales had electrified the children.

According to the affidavits, Polk County authorities were alerted to allegations of child abuse earlier this month.

During questioning, investigators say, Torres originally told a sheriff’s deputy that he owned a stun gun, and the children had found it and were using it on each other. 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.

All the suspects were arrested and transported to the Polk County Jail.

Detectives got permission from Veronica Sanchez to check the other children for injuries.

“Elizabeth said she didn’t report it because she didn’t want to lose her children”.

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

The four adults live in the same home.

The suspects are being held on bonds ranging from $62,000 to $544,000.

Vazquez and Morales have been charged with seven counts of aggravated child abuse.

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