MEN USED STUN GUN TO DISCIPLINE CHILDREN OVER FAILED PUSHUPS

LAKELAND, FLA. Police in Florida say two men used stun guns on children as young as seven as an extreme form of punishment.

On one child, officials discovered 15 “two-prong burns,” sheriffs said. On the other, they discovered at least 10 similar burns.

Those injuries, authorities said, were consistent with a stun gun. Officials checked out several other children, and found marks on a 13-year-old, and on two 12-year-olds. A 10-year-old had them, as did a sevenyear-old.

Authorities believe two men turned a stun gun on the children as a form of discipline, they say. Their girlfriends knew of the abuse but didn’t stop it, investigators allege.

In total, the four adults, who all lived in the same home had access to nine children. Seven of those children had been abused. All four adults have been arrested, the sheriff ’s office said.

Eduardo Vazquez and William Torres-Morales, both 22, face several charges in connection to the allegations. Their girlfriends — Elizabeth Tarvin, 33, and Veronica Sanchez, 32 — have also been taken into custody and face a number of charges.

Torres-Morales told investigators that on July 16, he and Vazquez forced the male children to complete pushups. Each time one of the boys couldn’t do a pushup, Torres-Morales and Vazquez would turn the stun gun on him, according to his account.