An alert waitress in Florida took action when she saw a boy who appeared to be in danger sitting at a table with his family.
The waitress told police in an interview last year that the boy's family was not giving him food and he was covered in injuries.
She made a handwritten sign and asked if he needed help.
The boy's stepson, who prosecutors say was tortured, hung upside down by his neck and feet, deprived of food and water, and forced to do military-style exercises, has been found guilty of multiple counts of child abuse by a jury.
According to a news release from the police department, the restaurant manager noticed the boy and began to worry.
The release said that Carvalho held the note up behind the boy's parents so that they couldn't see it. She called the police after she was able to communicate with the boy.
When the adults at the table did not order food for the boy, she noticed something was not right.
She said in the interview that she stepped in because the food for the boy was missing. The man told me that the boy was fine and that he was going to have dinner at home.
She said it was weird. There was a scratch between the boy's eyebrows. I saw that he was sad and quiet.
She said in the interview that she made a sign asking if the boy was okay and he nodded his head.
She said that he didn't persuade her. I asked him if he needed help and I showed him, and he nodded his head. I went to the back of the restaurant to call for help.
The child told officers at the hospital that he had been abused. The Department of Children and Families was contacted by authorities.
The boy, who was the stepson of the man at the table, was deprived of food and water for days at a time.
Two counts of false imprisonment of a child under the age of 13, three counts of child abuse with a weapon, four counts of child abuse and one count of child neglect were found guilty by a jury.
The attorney for the stepfather denied the allegations, according to the news outlet.
She said that he didn't feel like he did anything wrong.
The mother was charged with neglect. The identity of the 11-year-old child is not being protected by the news.
The man who answered the phone refused to speak.
The victim was kept in a hotel room away from Mr. Wilson and his family, according to the release. He was deprived of food and beverages, made to do military-style exercises, hung upside down from a door by his neck and feet, and handcuffed to a dolly cart on Christmas Day.
A bent metal pole, a wooden broom, handcuffs, and ratchet straps were used to tie the boy up, according to the release.
The sentencing of the man is scheduled for August 19th.
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The mom was charged in the baby's death.
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