Mercer County, Pa. - A Mercer county father is being held without bond after being charged in the death of his teenage son. 

Antonio Gonzalez, 33, and Paul Bacorn, 29, were booked into the Mercer County Jail Thursday after State Police responded to a home on District Road in Delaware Township on Thursday for a deceased victim.

Mercer County District Attorney Peter Acker identified the victim as Antonio Gonzalez Jr.

He went on to say that this is the worst case of abuse in 36 years, as far as the degree of injuries and the level of malnutrition. 

Mercer County Coroner John Libonati tells 21 News the official cause of the teen's death was Hypovolemic Shock, or a low volume of blood, as a result of blunt force trauma. 

The autopsy also showed "significant past and current abuse and severe malnutrition," Libonati said. 

The coroner ruled the death a homicide.

"If you suspect a child is enduring this kind of treatment speak out. Let what he endured help someone else," Libonati said. 

According to police, the two men described punishing and neglecting the teen. The boy was also in their care when he had his most recent injuries, according to a release.

In an affidavit filed Friday, the trooper on the scene said when he arrived, the teenager, his son, had "significant bruising throughout the exposed parts of his body and there was vomit on the floor next to his head. The victim also appeared to be significantly underweight as the bones at his joints were exposed and his cheeks were sunken in." 

Acker also said there was evidence that food was withheld, saying the refrigerator was kept on the outside porch with a motorcycle chain and padlock around it. 

"He looked like a concentration camp victim. You count every one of his ribs, they were protruding and his legs looked like pencils," Acker said. 

The complaint says Gonzalez initially told investigators the teenager had hit his head on a cinder block while throwing himself to the ground after Gonzalez had yelled at him. Gonzalez said his son complained of a headache and became increasingly less responsive mumbling and moaning. 

Gonzalez said he had logged into his son's cyber classroom to let the teacher know he would not participate in the day's class when he noticed the teen's eyes rolling back in his head. 

At this point, Gonzalez told investigators he called 911 and began chest compressions, but said his son was still breathing at that time. 

After being taken to Pennsylvania State Police Mercer barracks to continue questioning, the complaint says Gonzalez began to change his story, now claiming the child's injuries happened the night before.  In this version of events, Gonzalez told troopers he had woken up to find his son outside saying he'd heard a noise. After finding no one outside, Gonzalez said his son fell asleep and urinated on himself, so Gonzalez sprayed the teen with a hose and had him stand in "time out," which Gonzalez said he would often do for up to three hours at a time. 

Gonzalez said he heard what sounded like the teenager hitting his head against the wall and falling to the ground and took him outside to "refresh" him. 

That's when Gonzalez claimed the boy tripped and hit his head on a cinder block step and had to be dragged back inside, unable to walk on his own, and left him on a tarp to sleep. 

Gonzalez said at 6 a.m., he dumped a bucket of water on his son to wake him up, but he only groaned. The complaint says Gonzalez then texted a friend at 9:45 a.m. a picture of the boy laying on the tarp, saying he believed he was dead, although Gonzalez later insisted he believed he was only pretending to be injured. Gonzalez did not call 9-1-1 to report that his son was unresponsive until 10:40 a.m. 

Gonzalez is being held without bond in the Mercer County Jail on charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, concealing the death of a child, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and tampering with or fabricating evidence. 

When he was leaving his arraignment, Gonzalez denied harming the boy. 

"He lied to me constantly and I did not believe him when he said he was hurting, that was my mistake," Gonzalez said. 

"He injured himself constantly. I wasn't trying to do anything like this," he said. 

When asked about the padlock on the refrigerator, Gonzalez said it was to keep wild animals out. 

Bacorn is also behind bars awaiting his arraignment on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal conspiracy. His bond was set at $100,000. 

According to the affidavit filed in his case, Bacorn told investigators he lives in an adjacent trailer and helps to care for Gonzalez's children, the deceased teenager, and a four-year-old.  That child is now in the care of Children and Youth Services and will be placed in foster care. 

Regarding the mother, Acker said "The mother died two or three years ago under unknown circumstances but apparently was cremated quickly."

Bacorn told investigators he and Gonzalez discipline the children together and that sometimes includes making the teenager hold his arms above his head for hours at a time and withholding food. 

Bacorn said in one instance, they did not feed the boy for three straight days as a punishment. 

According to the affidavit, Bacorn said on October 24, he saw Gonzalez spraying the boy with water, then heard him yelling at him to get up before dragging him inside and leaving him there for several hours. Bacorn told investigators Gonzalez left and went to Walmart without attempting to help the child or call anyone for help. 

Anyone with any information related to this investigation is asked to call Pennsylvania State Police at 724-662-6162 and ask for Troop D Major Team.