Morning Express with Robin Meade
A waitress in Orlando called 911 to report an abused child after she wrote
him a note asking if he needed help.
"It takes courage." A waitress in Florida is being called a hero for recognizing
the plight of a little boy, and getting creative in order to get him help.
"Do you need help? Police say note written by Florida waitress helped save
abused boy's life"
ORLANDO, Florida -- An Orlando waitress told police she knew something was wrong
when an 11-year-old boy sitting at one of her tables was forbidden from ordering
anything to eat.
Then she noticed the bruises on his arms and face.
The waitress, Flavaine Carvalho, concocted a plan. She wrote "Do you need help?"
on a piece of paper and held it up to the boy from where his parents couldn't
see from their booth at Mrs. Potato Restaurant.
She told police it took three tries before the boy signaled "yes."
Carvalho called police. Now she's being credited as helping to save the boy from
what police called a "dangerous abuse" situation.
"This could have been a homicide situation if she had not intervened," Orlando
Police Chief Orlando Rolon told ABC
affiliate WFTV.
The owner of the restaurant, Rafaela Cabede, said she credits what took place to
a higher power.
She said Carvalho wasn't scheduled to be working the night she spotted the
child. She was only there because another employee called out. And the family
was sitting at the only table in the restaurant where Carvalho would have been
able to hold the sign up to the boy without the rest of his family seeing.
They were also the last table of the night, allowing Carvalho to pay more
attention to the family.
"We understand that this has to encourage other people that when you see
something, say something," Cabede said. "We know when we see a situation that is
wrong, we know what's the right thing to do. We know that speaking up is the
right thing to do. But it takes more than acknowledging it. It takes courage."
"The lesson here for all of us is to recognize when we see something that isn't
right to act on it... This saved the life of a child," Rolon said.
SEE ALSO: Teens form human chain to rescue 2 kids from icy pond in New Jersey
The boy's stepfather, Timothy Wilson II, 34, was arrested on one count of
third-degree child abuse.
In interviews with detectives, they said the boy told them his stepfather hit
him with his fists, a wooden broom and a back scratcher. The boy told detectives
he was hung upside down from a door frame by his ankles and, in another
instance, strapped to a furniture dolly.
Police said the boy also said he regularly wasn't allowed to eat as punishment.
He was 20 pounds underweight.
"To be honest what this child had gone through was torture," Detective Erin
Lawler said. "There was no justification for it in any realm of the world. I'm a
mother and seeing what that 11-year-old had to go through, it shocks your soul."
After police learned the additional details of the abuse, they said they
arrested Wilson again on multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and child
neglect.
Police said when they interviewed the child's mother, Kristen Swann, she
admitted to knowing about the abuse and failing to seek medical care for the
boy. She was arrested and charged with two counts of child neglect.
Investigators said both the boy and a 4-year-old girl were removed from the
couple's custody by the Department of Children and Families. They said there was
no evidence of physical abuse to the girl.
Police said the family had recently moved to the area and were staying at an
extended-stay hotel.
Source
Commentary by the Ottawa Mens Centre
If this happened in Ottawa, the Police would find a way to charge the father and
release the child in danger to the mother
because they see what they want to see which in their culture means they have
the right to fabricate evidence to suit
their preformed politically correct conclusions.
Ottawa Mens Centre