A Fort Myers woman is facing charges of child abuse after being accused of holding a 6-year-old boy underwater at a hotel pool in Central Florida.Osceola County deputies reported that the incident happened at the Gaylord Palms Hotel pool on Friday, when three children were playing in a two-foot-deep pool, and the splashing became aggressive.Deputies said Tiffany Griffith, 36, entered the pool, yelling at the boy for dunking her 7-year-old autistic and nonverbal son. Bodycam footage from a deputy shows surveillance video of Griffith entering the pool, splashing water on the children, placing two hands on a child’s shoulders, dunking him underwater for two seconds, and then splashing him again. An affidavit said the child ran out of the pool with a nosebleed.”It was when the child approached the parents, there were injuries. There’s no mention of any action that was taken between that time that would’ve led to those injuries,” an attorney said. A judge responded, “So you don’t think that the placing both hands on his shoulders, placing him underwater is sufficient,” the judge said.Deputies also noted that Griffith yelled at the boy’s mother before leaving. They arrested her as she left her hotel room. She faced an aggravated child abuse charge. On Tuesday, the state reduced her charge to child abuse and gave her a $20,000 bond.Deputies reported that she claimed to be a former law enforcement officer and said she pushed the child to protect her son. However, the prosecutor stated at a pretrial hearing, “She wasn’t protecting her child, this is retaliation for what happened to her child.”Griffith’s husband, William, spoke at her pretrial hearing, saying, “There was a kid in the pool that repeatedly held my son underwater and dunked him. Tiffany and I looked at this kid and basically asked where this kid’s parents were.”Hotel security indicated that alcohol was a factor in the incident, leading the judge to impose a condition that Griffith abstain from alcohol until after her trial. If found guilty, she faces up to five years in prison. Arrest records show that Griffith lives on Cedarwood Drive in Fort Myers.DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.
KISSIMMEE, Fla. —
A Fort Myers woman is facing charges of child abuse after being accused of holding a 6-year-old boy underwater at a hotel pool in Central Florida.
Osceola County deputies reported that the incident happened at the Gaylord Palms Hotel pool on Friday, when three children were playing in a two-foot-deep pool, and the splashing became aggressive.
Deputies said Tiffany Griffith, 36, entered the pool, yelling at the boy for dunking her 7-year-old autistic and nonverbal son.
Bodycam footage from a deputy shows surveillance video of Griffith entering the pool, splashing water on the children, placing two hands on a child’s shoulders, dunking him underwater for two seconds, and then splashing him again. An affidavit said the child ran out of the pool with a nosebleed.
“It was when the child approached the parents, there were injuries. There’s no mention of any action that was taken between that time that would’ve led to those injuries,” an attorney said. A judge responded, “So you don’t think that the placing both hands on his shoulders, placing him underwater is sufficient,” the judge said.
Deputies also noted that Griffith yelled at the boy’s mother before leaving. They arrested her as she left her hotel room. She faced an aggravated child abuse charge. On Tuesday, the state reduced her charge to child abuse and gave her a $20,000 bond.
Deputies reported that she claimed to be a former law enforcement officer and said she pushed the child to protect her son. However, the prosecutor stated at a pretrial hearing, “She wasn’t protecting her child, this is retaliation for what happened to her child.”
Griffith’s husband, William, spoke at her pretrial hearing, saying, “There was a kid in the pool that repeatedly held my son underwater and dunked him. Tiffany and I looked at this kid and basically asked where this kid’s parents were.”
Hotel security indicated that alcohol was a factor in the incident, leading the judge to impose a condition that Griffith abstain from alcohol until after her trial. If found guilty, she faces up to five years in prison. Arrest records show that Griffith lives on Cedarwood Drive in Fort Myers.
DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.