Four adults were arrested after being accused of having abused nine children in their house in Florida by wounding them with plywood under a bunk bed and spraying them in the face of vinegar as a form of punishment, the authorities announced on Friday.
The husband and wife Brian and Jill Griffeth, as well as Dallin, 21 years old and Liberty Griffeth, 19, were arrested and accused of child abuse, the Sheriff’s Bureau of Columbia said in a press release Friday.
The four adults are suspected of having abused five organic children and four adopted children – aged 7 to 16 – at their home in Fort White, Florida, about 35 miles northwest of Gainesville, said the Sheriff’s office.
The suspects are accused of having beaten the children with a cane, locking them in their rooms and having given them not prescribed medications, according to the Sheriff’s office.
The children had also been invited to lie about what was going on at home and were not taken or was provided with adequate schooling to read or write, said the sheriff’s office.
The nine children were ordered by the court to be withdrawn from the home, the authorities added.
The survey on the Griffeths began when a compulsory journalist from their local church, the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints in Branford, Florida, raised concerns concerning children, according to the press release. A “compulsory journalist” is a professional who is legally required to report suspicious cases of abuse or negligence towards children.
During his stay in Church Camp a few days before the arrests, one of the children was taken with a paralyzing electronic pistol operating, said the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff’s office added that investigators thought that the children adopted “were treated unfairly compared to the biological children Griffeth, in addition to the children who do not know their full name or their own birthdays.”
When investigators from the Ministry of Children and Families interviewed the family at their home, “it was noted that the adopted children were working on tasks, while organic children were playing or watched television,” the statement said.
The obligation for all adults has been set at $ 500,000 each.
The Griffeth could be immediately joined to comment. It is not clear if they have obtained a legal representation.
