A Florida couple has been arrested and charged with child abuse after their 6-year-old son was found unconscious with his head in the toilet, according to the Osceola Sheriff’s Office.
Larry Rhodes Jr., 22, and Bianca Blaise, 25, were taken into custody on July 5 after officers arrived at the motel room where the couple were staying and found their son, who had puffy eyes and no heartbeat.
The boy was rushed to Arnold Palmer Hospital with a “life-threatening brain haemorrhage,” police said, and is now on a ventilator.
Larry Rhodes Jr., 22, pictured, was charged with six counts of child abuse after his 6-year-old son was found unconscious by his partner with his head in the toilet
Bianca Blaise, 25, pictured, said Rhodes occasionally beats their children with a woman’s sandal. Police found traces on the child’s skin that match the pattern on the bottom of a sandal
The couple claimed that the boy had an argument with his 4-year-old brother the day before and that the two liked to imitate professional wrestling on the motel beds.
But when the sibling, who also had bruises and “fresh cuts around the mouth,” was questioned alone by Osceola County Fire Rescue paramedics, he said, “Daddy hit me.”
Rhodes and Blaise were each charged with six counts of child negligence, assault and abuse, according to court records.
The couple lived in the two-bed motel with eight other people, including other children.
Blaise said she works at Uber and Shipt, while Rhodes, with whom she has worked for seven years, takes care of the children.
Police say Rhodes and Blaise were living in a two-bed motel at the Kissimee Knight Inn, pictured here, with eight other people
She said she went to a drug testing center on the morning of July 5 but it was closed, so she came back to the motel and found Rhodes on the bed and her other son standing in the corner because he had wet the bed. . the evening before.
She then found her 6-year-old with his ‘head in the toilet’, according to the police report, ‘like’ [he] was drinking water.’
She initially denied any abuse in the household, but admitted that from time to time Rhodes “oops” the children with a woman’s sandal to punish them.
She said Rhodes has just run out of medication for schizophrenia in the past two weeks.
Researchers found marks on the other kids that matched the pattern on the bottom of a sandal. Police found the sandal and found it had “a red, blood-like substance on it.”
They also found blood spatter on the wall, according to the police report, where the children were forced to stand with their noises as a form of punishment.
The boy also had bruises under both eyes, lacerations to his lip and chin, burns to the neck and leg, scars and scratches on his chest and marks on his back, researchers said.
The mother said the black eyes were the result of an argument between the boys, but shrugged the other injuries and blamed Rhodes, the officers said.
Bianca concluded her interview by saying she knew she had to leave Rhodes not only to protect her [son]but himself,” an affidavit said.
“Bianca stated she couldn’t successfully leave Mr. Rhodes because she didn’t want to argue with him and claimed she didn’t have the financial backing to leave.”
Rhodes refused to cooperate with authorities and, when questioned, asked for a lawyer.
A doctor from the Florida Department of Children and Families Protection Team assessed the unconscious child he reported showing signs of child abuse.
“Brains are caused by blunt trauma to the tissue that causes blood vessels to rupture and blood products to leak into the surrounding tissue,” wrote Dr. F. Walter in his report.
“While sibling fights can occasionally cause bruising, they usually don’t cause the amount of bruising seen in this case,”