Biological dad of starved teen fights for visitation

ATLANTA — The biological father of an 18-year-old whose parents are accused of locked him in a bedroom with little food for years, said he wants to see his son, and his lawyer is ready to play hardball to make that happen.

Channel 2's Aaron Diamant first met Tony Wawrzynski two weeks ago in Paulding County before a fundraiser for his son, Mitch Comer, who he hasn't seen in 15 years.

"It helped me a lot coming here to see this. Just to see that the community has come together to help Mitch is just amazing to me," Wawrzynski said about the fundraiser at the time.

In October, a grand jury indicted Sheila and Paul Comer, Mitch Comer's mother and step-father. Prosecutors said the couple kept Mitch Comer captive inside their Dallas home for years, starving him until the teen weighed just 87 pounds.

When Wawrzynski, who lives in Nevada, found all this out last month, he made a push to reconnect with his son.

"It's all I could think about. I mean, nothing else was on my mind," Wawrzynski said.

Mitch Comer has been staying with a local family at an undisclosed location set up through the District Attorney's Office.

On Thursday, Wawrzynski said he feels the DA is blocking a reunion.

"I've tried to be patient, but we're getting nowhere," Wawrzynski said.

Wawrzynski has now hired Atlanta attorney Randall Kessler to put pressure on the DA to make it happen.

"There are depositions, there's discovery, there's a subpoena, all that kind of stuff that we're trying to avoid if we can do it cooperatively, but it's been a few weeks now," Kessler said.

Kessler said at the very least, Wawrzynski wants to be kept in the loop about Mitch Comer's recovery.

Meantime, the DA said all that's up to Mitch Comer, not him.

"We made it clear to Mr. Kessler that Mitch knew Mr. Wawrzynski was here. If he wanted to connect, he has had the opportunity all along. Mitch has made the choices that he's made," said Dick Donovan, Paulding County District Attorney.

Wawrzynski has already filed suit asking the court to officially recognize him as Mitch Comer's father.

Wawrzynski's lawyer said he hopes more legal action is not necessary and is urging prosecutors to use his client as a resource for Mitch Comer, saying they're all on the same side.

WSBTV