{"id":195482,"date":"2026-03-17T21:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/195482\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T21:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T21:52:11","slug":"florida-couple-accused-of-forcing-child-to-drink-homemade-hot-sauce-as-sick-punishment-for-lying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/195482\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida couple accused of forcing child to drink \u2018homemade hot sauce\u2019 as sick punishment for lying"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Florida couple allegedly forced their young daughter to drink \u201chomemade hot sauce\u201d as a twisted punishment for lying \u2013 among other horrifying discipline tactics, according to authorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ashley Eldredge, 37, and Robert Eldredge, 38, were booked into jail on one count of child abuse within hours of a school resource officer reporting the potential maltreatment of their daughter to cops on March 12, according to an arrest affidavit by the Cocoa Police Department, Fox 35 Orlando reported<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The child, whose age wasn\u2019t immediately known, told detectives that Ashley would force her to gulp down the sauce, made with \u201cred peppers, onions and oil,\u201d whenever she was suspected of fibbing, the outlet reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sick concoction \u201cmade her stomach hurt and causes her to vomit\u201d \u2013 but if she hesitated to drink it, her mother would allegedly hold her nose closed, preventing her from being able to breathe, the girl reportedly told investigators, adding that she\u2019s \u201callergic\u201d to the sauce. <\/p>\n

She was forced to drink it ten times, she said. <\/p>\n

\"MugshotAshley Eldredge is accused of forcing her young daughter to drink \u201chomemade hot sauce\u201d \u2014 made with \u201cred peppers, onions and oil\u201d \u2014 whenever she suspected the girl of fibbing, according to an arrest affidavit. Brevard County Sheiff’s Office<\/p>\n

The daughter also told police her parents would \u201cwhoop\u201d her \u2013 sometimes with objects like a belt or wooden spoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs to why she was disciplined, she stated that it was because she put \u2018ink on the cat\u2019 and that it was only part of an experiment,\u201d the affidavit stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAs to how many times [REDACTED] struck her, the victim stated \u201815\u2032 times by his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police learned that the girl had most recently endured the hot sauce discipline, as well as been struck by both parents, on March 11, according to News 6<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In interviews with detectives, Ashley reportedly admitted to serving her daughter the homemade hot sauce, which Robert confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MugshotRobert Eldredge admitted to using a belt to beat his daughter as a twisted discipline tactic, according to the affidavit. Brevard County Sheiff’s Office<\/p>\n

When police confronted him about the girl\u2019s bruises, Robert claimed she tended to self-harm \u2013 but admitted any bruises from a belt were from him, the outlet reported.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to Robert Eldredge, he had used the belt on the victim as punishment because she \u2018wrote the same 14 sentences\u2019 and that he \u2018whooped her ass,\u2019\u201d the affidavit read.<\/p>\n

Detectives and doctors found physical evidence of abuse on the girl, including multiple welts and bruises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her parents are currently in custody at the Brevard County Jail, and are scheduled to make their next court appearance on April 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ashley\u2019s bond was set at $5,000, with Robert\u2019s set at $50,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Defense attorneys for the Eldredges could not be reached for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida couple allegedly forced their young daughter to drink \u201chomemade hot sauce\u201d as a twisted punishment for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6041,7071,1107,265,28,30,29,4278],"class_list":["post-195482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-child-abuse","tag-children","tag-courts","tag-crime","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195482","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=195482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}