DOCUMENT: Crime

Dad's A Real Stunner

Florida man arrested for using shocking discipline on son, 14

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Dad's A Real Stunner

JANUARY 27--Meet Douglas Dycus. The 40-year-old Florida man was charged yesterday with felony child abuse and domestic battery for allegedly using a stun gun to discipline his 14-year-old son. Dycus, an engineer with a Palm Beach firm, admitted to cops that he used the electrical device on the boy when the child was wrestling with a brother and holding up the family's departure from their home last month. Instead of pulling the boys apart, Dycus--who said the children were 'not listening'--went to his dresser drawer and pulled out the stun gun, which he used to zap his son on the arm. The child let out a scream and then 'got into the vehicle,' according to a Martin County Sheriff's Office report. The victim told a child welfare investigator that Dycus shocked him twice, pointing to marks the device left on his arm and abdomen. The stun gun was recovered from Dycus's Palm City home after sheriff's investigators filed the below search warrant affidavit. (3 pages)