An Okaloosa County mother is speaking out after a home video recorded inside her daughter’s bedroom captured years of abuse — evidence she says finally made people believe the child.
According to Okaloosa County Sheriff’s investigators, the video captured the girl being abused and her dog being threatened with a knife. The man seen in the video, Damon Becnel, was arrested and charged with child abuse and animal cruelty.
Mother: ‘Nobody Believed Her’
Allison Tringas, the mother of the victim, does not have custody of her daughter but said watching the footage was devastating. “When I saw the video for the first time I puked,” Tringas recalled. She said the abuse went on for years, and that her daughter installed a camera in her bedroom only after no one believed her reports. “The whole world will now have a glimpse of what my daughter has lived through,” she said.
Prior Investigations
The Florida Department of Children and Families confirmed three investigations have been conducted involving Becnel — one in 2018, one in 2019 and one still open at the time of reporting.
Becnel’s father, Tom Becnel, released a statement through a public relations agency saying his granddaughter was now in “a very comfortable, safe home” and asking for privacy as the family heals, adding that the incident was “not indicative of my family’s values or behavior” and that he hoped his son would get treatment. All charges against Damon Becnel remain allegations unless proven in court.