A Florida deputy sheriff and his wife were arrested last month after their son told a pastor at a church that they had been abusing him for years and that he didn’t want to go home.

Christopher Turney, 40, was fired from his job with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office after his arrest on charges of child cruelty, child neglect, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, WEAR reported.

Leandra Turney, 39, was also arrested and charged with child neglect and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

According to an arrest report, the boy walked to a church and told the pastor there Turney had repeatedly physically abused him, including punching him in the face and choking him until he couldn’t breath. He said he was afraid to tell anyone because his father was a police officer and he thought no one would believe him.

When he was interviewed at Gulf Coast Kid’s House, a child advocacy organization, he told the interviewers that “he would rather be homeless than return home,” the Pensacola News Journal said.

The boy said that the day before he finally reported the abuse, “Christopher ‘choked him out,’ and he was unable to breathe,” the report said.

The boy took photos of the bruising and skin abrasions and provided them to investigators.

The boy further said he had not been to school since he was adopted in 2017. Another child in the home said that the children are supposedly homeschooled, with Leandra Turney responsible for the schooling. But, they said, she is frequently out of town on business and not overseeing school work.

Investigators observed significant tooth decay on the second child, and she told them that she had not seen a dentist since joining the household in 2019, according to NorthEscambia.com. The children said they do not even have toothbrushes. A dental hygienist member of the family said she had not seen any of the children since 2018 and had given the family toothbrushes and toothpaste since that time.

The boy also told investigators that he mows lawns for money but that Turney takes the money, telling him he’s using it for groceries and to pay for things the boy breaks.

The Turneys were released after their arrests on miniscule bonds and are due in court again on August 23. If convicted, Christopher Turney faces 15 years in prison and his wife faces 10 years in prison, the News Journal said.

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[Featured image: Christopher Turney/Escambia County Sheriff’s Office]