Calcasieu Parish deputies have arrested a couple after the man’s teen son escaped from their home and was found with injuries.
The boy, 15, escaped from the home where his father and his father’s girlfriend were allegedly abusing him and ran to a nearby house for help. Deputies arrived and found the child had burn marks from shock collars, facial injuries and belt marks across his back.
The boy’s father, Thomas Wininger, 40, of Sylvester, Ga., is accused of punishing the boy by handcuffing and hog-tying him, and placing shock collars on his ankles, for sometimes up to 12 hours a day. He’s also accused of beating the boy and whipping him.
Wininger’s girlfriend, Desirae Tomcanin, 34, of Pennsylvania, also was arrested.
The couple traveled with the boy from state to state, and Wininger worked. The boy was not in school and has not been in school for some time, deputies say.
Both adults were booked with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and false imprisonment.
Deputies say that, during a bathroom break, the boy was able to escape from the home where the "family" was living in Sulphur, and fled into the woods. He found help at a nearby home, where the resident called deputies for assistance.
The boy is now in the state’s custody.
CPSO Detective Keeba Barber is the lead investigator on this case.
