The mother of the five-year-old girl who fell overboard from a Disney cruise ship earlier this year will not face charges of negligence.
The terrifying incident took place on June 29 as the ship in question was making its way to Florida from the Bahamas. According to reports, a ‘MOB port side’ announcement – the emergency code that means ‘man overboard’ – was made suddenly during the voyage.
The person overboard transpired to be a five-year-old girl. Her father bravely followed her into the water, leaping overboard and grabbing hold of her before she vanished beneath the waves.
As per reports, he was able to tread water for nearly 20 minutes before they were both pulled to safety, with a rescue team quickly locating them.
Now, months on from the incident, authorities have revealed just how the little girl fell from the boat in the first place.
According to a newly-released police report cited by the Daily Mail, the child’s mom asked her daughter to pose for a photograph in front of a porthole just seconds before she lost her balance, falling backwards through the hole.
The Mail say the family had been strolling along the deck when the mom pointed to the window and “offered for her daughter to take a picture in the porthole.”
Investigators told that the mom “assumed the porthole had a window or plexiglass, and she thought that [her daughter] would be caught by the glass, but instead, she kept falling.”
Detective Christopher Favitta, with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, would later inspect the scene himself. According to his findings, it was obvious that the porthole lacked a covering and therefore was an area of potential danger to a five-year-old.
“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.
“This act, facilitated by [the mother] placed the child in a life-threatening situation. As a result, the child fell from the ship and into the water, in an avoidable accident.”
Detectice Favitta recommended that charges be pursued against the child’s mother, though the state attorney chose not to, coming to the decision that her actions, though “negligent and irresponsible”, did not meet the legal threshold for “criminal culpable negligence”.
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