DELAWARE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Mercer County man has been charged in the death of his 14-year-old son, Pennsylvania State Police said.
The boy, who was found to be significantly underweight, in poor health and was physically abused, was found dead about 11 a.m. Thursday at a home on District Road in Delaware Township, according to police.
Antonio Gonzalez, the boy's 33-year-old father, is charged with homicide. Paul Bacorn, 29, who police said is a family friend, is charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
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The victim weighed only 70 pounds when he died and had a skull fracture in the back of his head. The county coroner ruled his cause of death to be hypovolemic shock.
Gonzalez and Bacorn were interviewed and described "multiple acts of punishment and neglect" toward the boy, police said.
Investigators said the boy was in the care of Gonzalez and Bacorn when he suffered his most recent injuries.
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State police said Gonzalez would spray his son with a garden hose for discipline and deprive him of food, sometimes starving him for days.
When Channel 11's Renee Wallace asked Gonzalez about why he kept a padlock on the fridge, he said it was for "wild animals to stay out" because the fridge was outside.
The suspect's 4-year-old daughter was not home Thursday night but is now in custody of child protective services.
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