Stepfather Convicted Of Child Abuse After Florida Waitress Saved A Boy With A Secret Note Asking If He Needed 'Help'

11.06.2022 - 22:01 / perezhilton.com

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

A 36-year-old man has been convicted of child abuse, all thanks to the quick thinking of a restaurant employee.

According to a statement from the Orange County State Attorney’s Office obtained by People, Timothy Lee Wilson was found guilty on Monday of two counts of false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13, three counts of aggravated child abuse with a weapon, four counts of aggravated child abuse, and one count of child neglect.

The stepfather was arrested on January 1, 2021, at the Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando after one of the waitresses suspected child abuse and called 911. While working at the eatery on New Year’s Day, Flaviane Carvalho noticed the little boy was seated “secluded” from the rest of the family and was the only one without a meal or beverage. She also spotted that he was bruised on the side of his eye and arms, scraped between his eyebrows, and malnourished at the time.

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Concerned, the server secretly penned a note and held it up while standing behind his parents asking if he was okay. He nodded “yes” at first. However, Flaviane was not convinced. A couple of minutes later, she wrote a second message that read “Do you need help?” When the child nodded his head yes, she immediately called the authorities. The statement said:

Police then took Wilson into custody. They soon launched an investigation into the matter, quickly discovering how the kid had been subjected to horrific abuse and torture at the hands of his stepdad. According to law enforcement, he “had been tortured, maliciously punished, and deprived of food and water for days at a time.”

A search warrant