4 adults had been arrested after being accused of abusing 9 kids of their Florida dwelling by caging them with plywood beneath a bunk mattress and spraying them within the face with vinegar as a type of punishment, authorities mentioned Friday.
Husband and spouse Brian and Jill Griffeth, together with 21-year-old Dallin and 19-year-old Liberty Griffeth, had been arrested and charged with aggravated little one abuse, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned in a press release Friday.
The 4 adults are suspected of abusing 5 organic and 4 adopted kids — ages 7 to 16 — at their dwelling in Fort White, Florida, roughly 35 miles northwest of Gainesville, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
The suspects are accused of beating the youngsters with a cane, locking them of their bedrooms and giving them nonprescribed treatment, in response to the sheriff’s workplace.
The kids had additionally been instructed to lie about what was occurring of their dwelling and weren’t taken to or supplied with satisfactory education to learn or write, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
All 9 of the youngsters have been court-ordered to be faraway from the house, authorities added.
The investigation into the Griffeths started when a compulsory reporter at their native church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Branford, Florida, raised issues in regards to the kids, in response to the assertion. A “necessary reporter” is a skilled who’s legally required to report suspected instances of kid abuse or neglect.
Whereas at church camp a number of days previous to the arrests, one of many kids was caught with a functioning digital stun gun, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned.
The sheriff’s workplace added that investigators believed the adopted kids had been “being handled unfairly in comparison with the Griffeth organic kids, along with the youngsters not understanding their full identify or their very own birthdays.”
When Division of Kids and Households investigators interviewed the household of their dwelling, “it was famous that the adopted kids had been engaged on chores, whereas the organic kids had been enjoying or watching TV,” in response to the assertion.
Bond for the entire adults was set at $500,000 every.
The Griffeths may very well be instantly reached for remark. It’s not clear if they’ve obtained authorized illustration.
