
Police have arrested a Pennsylvania couple after they allegedly forced their 15-year-old son to stay out in the snow nearly naked as a cruel form of punishment. A neighbor reportedly called the police on January 22, 2025, after seeing the boy running through the neighborhood and begging for help. Investigators uncovered that it wasn’t just one boy allegedly subjected to abuse but his twin brother as well.
Police ultimately arrested the boys’ mother, Tracy Dechant, 42, and stepfather, Joshua Dechant, 36, in connection with the horrific case.
Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan, addressed the media during a news conference and gave shocking details about the case. After a neighbor brought the boy into their home, the neighbor became concerned about the teenager’s physical well-being.
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The neighbor contacted Pennsylvania state police, and the boy was taken to an area hospital for treatment. Police located the teenager’s twin brother, who also appeared severely malnourished, and took him to a hospital as well.
While in the hospital’s care, medical professionals determined the full-grown teenagers weighed just 55 and 53 pounds, respectively. During the investigation, the teenagers reportedly told police their parents often punished them in cruel ways. Those included sometimes withholding food, making them walk around naked, and only allowing them to sleep on the floor with a shared blanket.
Holihan said he did not believe the teenagers had many relationships outside of the home.
“We don’t believe they were in brick-and-mortar school,” he said. “We don’t believe they were seeing 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.”
Sadly, according to Holihan, medical records show that the teenagers only gained about 10 pounds in the last eight years. Young men their age and size should weigh closer to 143 pounds, hospital staff said, per CBS news.
According to CBS News, the police spoke to the twin boys’ biological sister. She reportedly moved away from home some time ago but recalled the horrific conditions. She alleged her mother and stepfather subjected her to the same type of treatment.
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WNEP spoke to some of the family’s neighbors, who could not believe what had happened to the boys.
“I’m appalled. No child should have to go through this, absolutely none,” said Joe Paciej told the station.
Chris Groller agreed and said, “It’s horrible. I have a 13-year-old son and a nine-year-old son, and it’s horrible; I just can’t imagine doing something like that to anyone, let alone your own kids. It’s terrible.”
Groller added this type of thing doesn’t happen where they live.
“I feel like it’s a super safe neighborhood; we have a lot of kids in the neighborhood, and everyone seems to get along for the most part; it is definitely surprising that it happened here,” Groller said.
Per WNEP, Tracy and Joshua Dechant posted a $75,000 bail to Lehigh County Jail on January 28, 2025. They are due in court February 3 for a preliminary hearing.