A Florida couple has been apprehended and charged with child abuse after their 6-year-old son was discovered unconscious with his head in a motel toilet bowl earlier this month, authorities said.
Officers with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a Kissimmee motel after receiving reports that a child was in severe distress at the location and that his head was in a toilet, Local 10 reported.
Upon arrival, responding officers found Larry Rhodes, 22, holding the unconscious child with badly swollen eyes and found that he had no pulse.
The boy was transported to a nearby hospital where doctors discovered severe brain bleeding and placed him on life support. He remains in critical condition.
Additionally, responding officers also found five other children with signs of physical abuse at the hellish scene, including burns, scars, black eyes, bleeding and extensive bruising. The suffering children ranged in age from infants to 6 years, police said.
Rhodes, 22, and his 25-year-old girlfriend, Bianca Blaise, were both apprehended and slapped with child abuse charges. In interviews, the couple claimed that the various injuries were sustained during fights between the siblings.
Blaise told investigators that she arrived at the room to find the 6-year-old’s head in the toilet and that he appeared to be drinking out of the bowl. She said she later realized that he was unconscious. The couple had been staying at the Knights Inn since April.
The couple told investigators that they never hit their children — however, their 4-year-old told investigators that “daddy hit me.”
The couple said they disciplined their children only by having them stand in the corner of the motel room and perform exercises.
Both were held on a $15,000 bond after their initial court appearance. Blaise eventually posted bail and has been released.
