Florida.- The mother of the 14-year-old girl captured in a home security video that shows an alleged abuse by a man says that her daughter installed the cameras herself.
Damon Richard Becnel, 47, was arrested on January 2 after agents saw videos brought by the victim.
The victim’s mother tells Channel 3 News that her daughter has tried to report the alleged abuse for years, but no one believed her, so she took the matter into her own hands. The video he delivered to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has now gone viral on social media.
The mother gave permission to Channel 3 News to show the video, as long as her daughter’s identity was not revealed.
#NDI Minor secretly recorded abuse of his father because no one believed him. The video shows a beating given by her father, Damon Richard Becnel, 47, the 14-year-old girl was arrested, according to court documents. https://t.co/73LXF0nwPQ
– Raúl Brindis (@raulbrindis)
January 17, 2020
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In the video, you can see a man, identified by the sheriff’s office as Damon Becnel, shout, point and even hit a teenager. Becnel also yells at the teenager’s dogs.
The video also shows Becnel hitting the animal and holding an object on the dog’s neck. The arrest report identifies that object as a knife. The teenager then jumps over Becnel and shouts at him to stop.
“I’m going to kill the dog,” Becnel says in the video. The teenager is heard shouting: “Stop, stop.” Becnel also pushes his daughter against the wall and hits her with the head.
The video continues for 6 minutes. According to the arrest report, Becnel is a leading local businessman. He lists his latest business known under the ABEC resorts in Destin.
Okaloosa Department of Corrections
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“I hope that local police, judges and state attorneys do their due diligence to ensure justice is done,” said an outraged member of the community, Carmel Ceravolo.
We need to make sure that this guy doesn’t just get slapped on the wrist because he is from Destin and has money.
A Facebook community group, created after the video was put on social media, now has more than 2,500 members.
We talked to one of the moderators of the group. He didn’t want his identity to be revealed because he used to do business with the Becnel family. She says the purpose of the group is to ensure the safety of the girl and her animals.
“Your behavior.” the woman says: “We’ve all seen fragments, but not that side of him in the family since then.” The woman says she is outraged. Becnel came out with a bail of $ 4,000.
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