En 14-årig installeret kameraer til at bevise misbrug. Florida senere gav forældremyndigheden tilbage til den far hun filmede

Nyhederne er grafiske.

Okaloosa amt, Florida - En 14-årig installeret kameraer i hendes soveværelse fordi ingen ville tro hun blev slået. Optagelserne gik til sheriffen. Damon Richard Becnel, 47, blev arresteret den 2. januar 2020.

Two videos showed him grabbing the girl by the hair, headbutting her, and slamming her head into a bed. In another he pulls a knife on a dog and screams that he will cut the animal’s eyes out while she tells him to stop. He was charged with child abuse and animal cruelty, posted $4,000 bail on January 3, and was released.

The sheriff’s office would not say how he was related to her, citing Florida’s victim-identity law. Reporting filled it in. Becnel was her father, a Destin business owner listed as a managing partner across local companies, last tied to ABEC Resorts. She had hidden a Nest camera without his knowledge. Her mother, Allison Tringas, who did not have custody, told WEAR she had been trying for years. "Der blev ikke gjort noget. Der er aldrig gjort noget for at hjælpe min datter". Hun sagde pigen "absolut vidste, at noget slemt ville ske, og ingen ville tro hende, medmindre hun havde det på film".

Five Okaloosa Circuit judges passed the file around, several recusing without a reason, before it landed with Judge John Jay Gontarek. Chief Assistant State Attorney William Bishop said the office would not plea-bargain and had given the case to a child-abuse specialist. The criminal trial was continued for years. Becnel’s lawyer said he had checked into rehab while a domestic-violence injunction was in effect. The girl spent long stretches with her paternal grandfather.

Then a retired judge, brought back to hear the matter, granted Becnel temporary custody in late 2020 on the recommendation of the Florida Department of Children and Families and the teen’s own attorney — while the felony child-abuse charge was still pending. By 2022, reporting confirmed the same father had custody again. A child who documented her own beating watched the system hand her back.

Relateret fra organisationen alliance: Italiensk pige, der indspillede sin sognepræst, En åben hemmelighed, og Kriminalitet Nyheder.