A waitress has been praised for her quick thinking after she spotted something wasn't quite right with one family that came to eat at her restaurant.
Here's the full story...
Now, being a parent isn't easy...
But it's probably the most fulfilling role you can take on.
However, there are people out there who should never be allowed to care for a child.
As our latest story proves...
Luckily, a hero waitress saved the day...
And quite possibly the life of a young boy who desperately needed help.
Flavaine Carvalho, from Orlando, was working at Mrs. Potato Restaurant on January 1st.
She saw a boy sat with his parents and instantly knew something was wrong, so decided to write him a note asking if he needed help.
It turns out he did.
The young boy's mum, thirty-one-year-old Kristen Swann, and stepfather, thirty-four-year-old Timothy Wilson II, were arrested after it was found out that they had been abusing the boy.
Orlando waitress became suspicious when little boy wasn’t allowed to order food, then she noticed bruises on his arms. She held up hand written sign behind parents saying ‘Do you need help?’ The boy signaled ‘yes’, so she called police. Both parents arrested for child abuse. pic.twitter.com/yQRr8Z0lCB
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 14, 2021
Wilson II was arrested on 1 count of third-degree child abuse, as well as being charged with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect...
While Swann was charged with 2 counts of child neglect.
Investigators interviewed the boy’s mother, Kristen Swann, who allegedly said that she knew her child was being abused but didn’t intervene. She was arrested and charged with child neglect.
— PurPleXedQT (@TwistedXCons) January 15, 2021
Carvalho has since opened up about the moment she decided to intervene, saying she noticed something was wrong when both the parents received food but the boy got nothing, as well as him having several bruises.
Carvalho recalled that Wilson told her the boy would eat at home.
FOLLOW UP: Here’s the sign the waitress made, and a photo of her. Her name is Flavaine Carvalho. The boy was 11-years-old. pic.twitter.com/oXWWdzrZX2
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 14, 2021
She said:
"I could see he had a big scratch between his eyebrows. A couple of minutes later, I saw a bruise on the side of his eye. So I felt there was something really wrong."
She then decided to send a secret note to the boy, asking if he needed help.
SEE SOMETHING SAY SOMETHING: An Orlando waitress saw a family withholding food from a boy at a table. She noticed bruises on his body and created this sign to secretly ask the child if he needed help. When he signaled "Yes" she called us. The stepfather & mother were arrested. pic.twitter.com/hJNT1nm0vI
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) January 14, 2021
She stood behind him so that his parents wouldn't see.
After reading the note, the boy gestured that he did need help.
...what a blessing that she was in the right place, at the right time.
— JennyJenJen (@JenSmedley) January 15, 2021
In an audio clip of the call released by police, Carvalho said: "I'm super concerned and I don't know what to do, can you give me some advice? What I can do?
"The boy is with bruises and he's not eating. The others are eating."
After being rescued from his abusive parents and taken to hospital, it was found that he was twenty pounds underweight.
The boy even admitted to police that Wilson beat him with a wooden broom, hung him upside down, and forced him to do thirty-minute planks.
He was also not allowed to eat on a regular basis and would be tied up in their house.
As well as this, he also told police that he was often handcuffed and tied to a large, moving dolly.
At a press conference, a police spokesperson said the boy's story was disgusting to hear...
They said:
"What this child had gone through, it was torture. Seeing what that eleven-year-old had to go through, it shocks your soul."
He has now been taken into custody by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
We hope he can finally live a happy life.