Prosecutors in Florida decided not to charge a woman for child neglect after her daughter plunged into the ocean from a Disney Cruise ship, despite a police investigation that found the woman put her child in “a life-threatening situation” by allowing her to pose for a photograph in a porthole-shaped window.
Authorities said the incident was “merely accidental,” and the 5-year-old girl survived thanks to her father, who jumped after her after she fell 49 feet into the sea.
The Daily Mail reported an update on the case Sunday. Investigation reports from the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the prosecutor’s memo include previously unreleased details about what led to the fall and how the girl’s parents reacted.
According to a July 31 memo from the prosecutor in charge of the child fatality and abuse unit in Broward County, the woman thought there was a barrier in the window that would keep her daughter from falling. Melissa Kelly, an assistant state attorney, declined to bring a count of child neglect against the mother.
While her behaviour was “arguably negligent and irresponsible,” Kelly’s memo says, it didn’t “rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence.”
Detectives had turned the case over to prosecutors, writing in a report that while the incident was being viewed as an accident, there had been a failure to supervise the child aboard the Disney Dream ship. Sheriff’s investigators learned last month that the woman would not be charged.
“Upon looking at the window myself, as a prudent person, I immediately saw that the window was open to the air, and did not have a covering,” the Sheriff’s Office report says. “This act … placed the child in a life-threatening situation.”
The ordeal that unfolded on June 29 as the ship sailed from the Bahamas to South Florida drew widespread attention after passengers uploaded videos of the dramatic rescue onto social media. Rumours about the circumstances of the fall spread quickly.
The child’s father treaded water with her for 20 minutes awaiting a rescue boat; he suffered two spinal fractures, hypothermia and a buildup of lactic acid, which can be caused by “excessive exercise,” according to Cleveland Clinic. His daughter experienced mild hypothermia and minor lactic acidosis, the prosecutor’s memo said. Investigators have not released the names of the father or daughter or where they live, though they said they are not Florida residents.
The trio was exploring an exercise trail on Deck 4 when they came across a porthole-shaped window, similar to others that they had photographed. According to the Sheriff’s Office report, the mother “offered for her daughter to take a picture in the porthole.” The girl climbed up to sit on the 44-inch-high railing facing her mom, lost her balance and fell backward.
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Live photos taken from the mother’s phone captured her scrambling up and falling backward, the investigator wrote. Security camera video from the ship also showed the scene unfold. The girl’s father, who was about 10 feet in front of his wife and daughter, briefly tried to run for help when he heard his wife scream but dove into the ocean after his daughter in less than a minute.
“He noted difficulty locating his daughter in the water and admitted losing visual contact temporarily,” the Sheriff’s Office report said. The report said they called to each other until he found her. “He was eventually able to reach her and tread water with her until they were rescued. He expressed surprise and relief at their survival.”
The father’s jump activated a man-overboard alert at 11:30 a.m. It did not go off when the child fell, the prosecutor wrote. Crew members threw life rings and the ship started to turn within two minutes. By 11:40 a.m., a small rescue boat was launched. It reached the duo exactly 20 minutes after the girl fell.
In an interview with investigators, the girl’s mom said she had taken pictures elsewhere on the ship during the cruise in portholes protected by windows. She “stated that she felt like there should be coverings on the windows, and cited that Disney is responsible for what had occurred.”
Disney has previously commended the ship’s crew for “their exceptional skills and prompt actions” that got both passengers back on board quickly.
“We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols,” the statement said this summer.
