Who is Flavaine Carvalho? Quick-thinking Orlando waitress saves 11-year-old from his abusive parents
An 11-year-old boy was removed from his home and his parents are in jail after a waitress sensed and later noticed that there was something wrong with the boy. She used a note to ask him if he was okay to which the boy answered in the negative and signaled that he needed help. The quick-thinking waitress was identified as Flavaine Carvalho. She was not scheduled to work a shift at the Mrs. Potato restaurant on New Year's Day but had to fill in when another member from the staff called in sick, her boss Rafaela Cabede said during a press conference held on January 14.
The activity at the restaurant had finally slowed down after a very busy day because of the holidays, and the family who the boy was accompanying was the last table of the night, Cabede said. "We truly believe that this was a holy provision, and we were very blessed that we were able to help this child," she explained, according to a CNN report. Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon lauded Carvalho at the press conference saying, "We probably would have been talking about a potential homicide investigation if she had not intervened when she did."
Carvalho said that the boy wore glasses, a mask, and a hoodie but she could see all his bruises peeking out from behind it all. She then flashed a handwritten note to him that said, "ARE YOU OK?" to which he nodded no. Carvalho said that the boy was very skinny and the only one on the table of four, comprised of two adults and one girl, who had not eaten anything even though food had been brought to the table and everyone was eating. She noticed that he was very quiet even though the others were talking. She walked up to the table to ask if the food and drinks were fine and one of the adults at the table told her that the boy would be eating at home. That's when Carvalho started thinking that there was something wrong.
Until then she had just noticed a scratch between his eyebrows but when she approached the table to check on them, she saw bruising on the side of the boy's face and arm and decided to help him. She then flashed a second sign behind his parents' back a couple of minutes later asking, "DO YOU NEED HELP?" to which he nodded a yes. This is when she first called her boss and then dialed 911, telling dispatchers that she was worried about the boy.
Police arrived at the restaurant after which they questioned the 11-year-old child who opened up about all the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his stepfather who was identified by the police as Timothy Lee Wilson II, Detective Erin Lawler from Orlando Police' Special Victims Unit said during the press conference. The boy revealed that he had been hit with a wooden broom, hung upside down from a door, and was regularly denied food as punishment, according to an Orlando Police Department news release. Wilson was arrested immediately at the restaurant and the boy's mother, Kristen Swann too was taken into custody on January 6 after the boy disclosed further details of the alleged abuse, Lawler said.
Lee Wilson II was charged with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect, according to court records. Swann was charged with two counts of child neglect after admitting to detectives that she knew of the abuse and failed to seek medical care for her son. A 4-year-old child was also removed from their home following the arrests of the parents but was not found to have suffered any abuse.
Details of the abuse
After being taken to the hospital, the boy was found to be 20 pounds underweight for his age. His body was covered in bruises at different stages of healing. "If Ms. Carvalho would not have said something when she saw it that little boy would probably not be with us much longer," Lawler said at the press conference. She also said that the boy told investigators that he was abused on Christmas day by his parents who told him that Santa suggested he be punished. He was handcuffed to a furniture dolly with hands behind his back and ratchet straps on his ankles and was asked to set himself free.
The parents also punished the boy by making him do planks for 30 minutes and would beat him if he couldn't do it. Court records show Lee Wilson II had his first court appearance on January 6 for four charges including three counts of felony aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect. He and Swann continue to remain at the Orange County Jail.