Father faces abuse charges

MONROE, N.C. -- A Monroe man faces child abuse charges for allegedly using a Taser on his 10-year-old son.

Deputies say 30-year-old Donald Ricci, Jr., used the Taser at least three times.

The boy was visiting his grandparents in Georgia when they noticed burns on his bottom, neck and chest and took him to a hospital.

"I was shocked and sickened," said Detective Kevin Rogers. "(Tasers) are very, very painful."

Ricci did not answer the door at his apartment in Monroe on Thursday.

"How could anybody do that to a child?" neighbor David Andreano said.

Andreano and another neighbor said they ran into the child a few weeks ago.

"He walked in my neighbor's apartment first and he told my neighbor and said, 'Please don't

make me go home'. He had a belt in his hand," Andreano said.

Andreano said looking back he wished he could've done more.

"My wife and I felt so terrible about the whole thing," he said. "If we would've looked better, if we would've seen something, we might have been able to stop him."

The boy is expected to recover from his injuries.

Ricci is due in court on June 4.