Judge ordered mother, stepfather to be tried for allegedly starving, abusing twin boys

LOWER MACUNGIE, Pa. (WPVI) -- A judge has ordered the mother and stepfather of severely underweight teen twin boys to be tried for abuse.

Tracy and Joshua Dechant hid their faces after a Lehigh County judge ordered them to be tried on charges of starving and abusing their twin 15-year-old sons.

Court documents claim the boys were denied food and water as punishment, forced to walk around naked in their Lower Macungie home and forced to stand outside naked in freezing temperatures.

The teenage twins weighed only 53 and 55 pounds, with no record of any medical care since 2017.

The parents attributed the twins' condition to their premature births.