FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A child neglect charge has been declined following an incident on the Disney Dream Cruise Ship, where a 5-year-old girl fell overboard while the ship was approaching Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, according to a memo obtained by News4JAX’s partners in South Florida, WPLG.
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Kelly, who created the memo, states that on June 29, the family was aboard the ship traveling from the Bahamas to Florida.
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Investigators learned that the child climbed onto a railing on Deck 4 and lost her balance, falling about 49 feet into the ocean below, Kelly wrote, adding that the mother was taking photos at the time and initially believed a glass barrier was in place.
The father, who was walking ahead, heard his wife scream and saw their daughter in the water. He immediately jumped overboard to rescue her.
The ship’s crew activated the “Man Overboard” protocol, alerted the Coast Guard, and deployed rescue boats and life rings. Both the child and father were rescued within 20 minutes and taken to the ship’s medical center for observation.
Medical evaluations at Broward Health Medical Center confirmed the child suffered mild hypothermia but no injuries, while the father sustained two spinal fractures and hypothermia from his rescue efforts.
Kelly said the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Department of Children and Families conducted a thorough investigation, including reviewing surveillance footage, witness statements, and ship safety features. Investigators noted the railing was 44 inches tall and there were open porthole-style windows without barriers on the exercise track where the incident occurred.
The mother told investigators she did not see the child fall and immediately called for help once she realized what had happened. She denied any prior allegations of abuse and said the child had taken some swim lessons but could not swim.
Kelly noted that, under Florida law, child neglect requires willful or culpable negligence that shows an utter disregard for the child’s safety. While the mother’s decision to allow her child to sit on the railing was negligent, investigators concluded it was an isolated accident without criminal culpability.
Additionally, the child did not suffer any serious injuries, and the father’s heroic rescue was credited with saving her life.