Florida restaurant manager uses secret signals to save abused child, police say

Florida Police greet a restaurant manager and waitress in Orlando who used secret signals to get help from an allegedly abused child.

Flavaine Carvalho alerted police after noticing disturbing signs in a family she served on New Years Day at Mrs. Potato Restaurant on South Kirkman Road in Orlando, Florida.

Carvalho’s advice sparked a police investigation which resulted in multiple charges of abuse and neglect against the boy’s mother and stepfather.

Orlando Police Department shared a video in which Carvalho recounted his experience.

She said the family came as an “ordinary family”.

“I noticed the boy was starved of food,” Carvalho said, “that was the first thing that caught my attention”.

Carvalho said she tried to ask the boy if something was wrong; Stepfather Timothy Wilson II, 34, reportedly told Carvalho everything was fine and the boy was going to have dinner at the house after they left.

SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING: We spoke with an Orlando restaurant manager who saw a family withholding food from a waiter at a table. She noticed bruises on her body and created a sign to secretly ask the child if he needed help. When he nodded “Yes”, she called us. pic.twitter.com/U8m9MG1KUN

– Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) January 14, 2021

“It was very strange to me,” Carvalho said, describing the boy as showing signs of abuse and neglect, including a scratch on his head. “I could see he was super calm and sad.”

She tried to ask him if he was okay and the boy nodded, “but he didn’t convince me,” Carvalho said.

She came back with a sign and showed it to him behind her parents’ backs, and after several tries, “he nodded yes,” Carvalho said.

She said she called 911 and the police arrived shortly after.

The boy’s stepfather was arrested that day and charged with one count of third degree child abuse.

After a police investigation uncovered much worse allegations and signs of child abuse, the stepfather was arrested again on January 6 and charged with multiple counts of child abuse.

The boy’s mother, Kristen Swann, 31, was also arrested on January 6 and faces two counts of child neglect for not reporting the abuse.

“By saying something when she saw something, Ms Carvalho showed courage and care for a child she had never met before, and we are proud that someone like Ms Carvalho lives and works in our community, ”the Orlando Police Department said in a statement.

Swann and Wilson did not return phone calls for comment on Friday.