Pa. parents charged for inflicting ‘multiple types of abuse’ on twin sons, including forcing them to strip naked outdoors in cold

A couple in Pennsylvania was hit with charges including conspiracy to commit third-degree murder and aggravated assault after authorities discovered they had inflicted “multiple types of abuse” on their three children, specifically their malnourished twin boys.

Joshua Dechant, 36, and Tracy Dechant, 42, allegedly mistreated the twins so heinously that they were nearly 100 pounds underweight.

An investigation into the Dechant family began in January when police were called to the home after someone in the neighborhood reported sightings of a nearly naked 15-year-old boy running around in the cold.

The boy, one of the teenage twins, told police that his stepfather forced him to walk outside as part of a punishment. At the time, temperatures were in the single digits.

Neighbors in the Lower Macungie Township area also told the officer that they had brought him inside to warm up after he knocked on their door for help. They noted that he was famished and scarfed down all the food they offered.

Authorities met the Dechant couple and found the naked boy’s twin with them, also in a similarly emancipated condition.

Both brothers attested to the extensive abuse they had shouldered, including denial of basic necessities like food and water, being forced to be naked in and outside of the house as punishment, and being forced to sleep together on the floor with just one blanket to share between them, officials shared at a press conference attended by NBC10 Philadelphia.

Video evidence from Joshua and Tracy Dechant’s own phones showed their abuse in action, including clips of both boys naked outside and them sleeping on the floor.

The twins also disclosed other forms of physical and mental abuse, including hitting, only showering with cold water, not being permitted to stay at home or leave alone, and no contact with anyone outside of their home for a whole year.

The twins were quickly taken to the hospital for a long-overdue checkup. Officials said that they weighed 53 and 55 pounds, respectively. The average 15-year-old boy their height should weigh about 140 pounds. Over the last eight years, though, they’d only gained about 10 pounds each.

While the investigation was ongoing, police also spoke with the twins’ biological older sister who no longer lives in the family’s home.

She told cops that she was subjected to similar abuse, including being put out naked in the cold for extended periods of time. She also testified to the abuse done to her brothers but noted she hadn’t lived in the home since April 2023.

Officials said that both boys were discharged from the hospital with fresh diagnoses of a laundry list of medical issues that, if gone untreated, would’ve likely killed them.

Bail for the couple was set at $200,000 each. They are set to appear for preliminary hearings on Feb. 27.