Father says man accused for jumping White House fence suffered from mental issues

BEL AIR, Md. - The father of a Bel Air man accused of jumping a White House fence Wednesday said he and his wife knew their son suffered from mental issues and that he had been arrested at the White house before.

Dominic Adesanya, 23, of Bel Air, was taken into custody Wednesday at about 7:16 p.m., according to Secret Service spokesman Brian Leary (via The Associated Press). Charges are pending for Adesanya who was unarmed at the time of his arrest.

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Adesanya’s father declined to show his face or disclose his full name on camera. (See video above)

“It’s been hard,” Adesanya’s father said. “It’s hard to be in your house and not know if the person you’re living with is trustworthy and to know they’re mentally disturbed like he is.”

“We wanted to get him help, and we’ve been asking the government to give him help and nobody has wanted to help us get help for him,” he continued.

Adesanya’s father said his son suffered from paranoia of his home being under surveillance and said he heard voices.   

“We can’t keep him locked in the house because we have to go to work or look for work,” the father said. “We can’t be in the house watching him.”

Adesanya’s father said he had no idea that his son had plans to scale the White House fence.

 “No. But he had done it before. … He didn’t get that close,” the father said. “He didn’t cross the fence. He was at the gate, fussing at the people, wanting to talk to the president to tell the president about his situation.”

Adesanya’s father said his son was charged with a misdemeanor for the incident about two months ago.

 Adesanya graduated from Fallston High School in 2008 before attending Stevenson University where he ran outdoor track . Adesanya’s father said his son tried to play football for the school but for some reason was unsuccessful.   That’s when, the father said, his son started developing mental issues.

Stay with ABC2 News as we continue to update this story. 

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.