{"id":12431,"date":"2025-10-20T15:17:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/12431\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:17:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T15:17:06","slug":"prosecutors-decline-child-neglect-charge-after-5-year-old-fell-overboard-disney-cruise-ship-off-fort-lauderdale-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/12431\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors decline child neglect charge after 5-year-old fell overboard Disney cruise ship off Fort Lauderdale &#8211; WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; Prosecutors have declined to file a child neglect charge against a mother whose 5-year-old daughter <a href=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/broward\/disney-cruise-returns-to-port-everglades-after-child-falls-overboard-at-sea-father-jumps-in-to-rescue\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/wsvn.com\/news\/local\/broward\/disney-cruise-returns-to-port-everglades-after-child-falls-overboard-at-sea-father-jumps-in-to-rescue\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fell overboard a Disney cruise ship<\/a> in June while the vessel was traveling back to Port Everglades, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p>The Broward State Attorney\u2019s Office reviewed the case, which involved a June 29 incident aboard the Disney Dream as it traveled northwest from the Bahamas toward Fort Lauderdale. <\/p>\n<p>Investigators said the child fell about 49 feet from the ship\u2019s fourth deck into the ocean after climbing onto a railing while her mother was taking photos.<\/p>\n<p>The child\u2019s father, who was walking ahead at the time, jumped into the water to rescue her after hearing his wife scream. <\/p>\n<p>Crew members quickly initiated the ship\u2019s \u201cman overboard\u201d protocol, deploying life rings, turning the ship, and launching a rescue boat that recovered the pair within minutes, according to investigative reports.<\/p>\n<p>The 5-year-old was treated for mild hypothermia and minor lactic acidosis at the ship\u2019s medical center and later released from Broward Health Medical Center with no injuries. <\/p>\n<p>Her father suffered hypothermia and two spinal fractures from the jump.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators said the mother told deputies she believed a glass barrier was present between the railing and the water, similar to other areas of the ship where she had taken photos. She immediately called for help once realizing her daughter had fallen.<\/p>\n<p>In declining the child neglect charge, prosecutors said they found the mother\u2019s actions did not rise to the level of \u201cculpable negligence,\u201d noting that the incident appeared accidental and isolated.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p>\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) &#8211; Prosecutors have declined to file a child neglect charge against a mother whose&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-12431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}