A waitress at an Orlando restaurant used a secret sign to help rescue a boy suspected of abuse after noticing his parents weren't giving him any food

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A picture of the hand-written letter used by the Florida restaurant manager to save an abused child. Orlando Police Department
  • A waitress at an Orlando restaurant saved a young boy from his abusive family after flashing a secret sign that read, "do you need help?"

  • Flavaine Carvalho became suspicious of a family that she was serving at the Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando, Florida, on New Years Day when she noticed they weren't giving their son any food.

  • After noticing other signs of abuse, including a massive scratch on the boy's forehead, the waitress flashed signs behind the parents' back that read "are you ok?" and "do you need help"?

  • After multiple attempts, the boy indicated to Carvalho that he needed help, which prompted her to call the police.

  • According to a police investigation, the 11-year-old boy was subject to other alleged abuse, including being handcuffed, hit with a wooden broom, and hung him upside down from a door frame.

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A waitress at an Orlando restaurant saved a young boy from his allegedly abusive family after flashing a secret sign that read, "do you need help?"

Flavaine Carvalho served a family on New Years Day at the Mrs. Potato Restaurant in Orlando, Florida, when she started noticing some worrying signs that led her to call the police.

In a video shared by The Orlando Police Department on Facebook, Carvalho explains that the family had come in like "a regular family," but when their food came, she noticed they didn't give any to the boy.

"I asked them if something was wrong with the order because the food for the boy was missing," Carvalho told police in the video.

But the boy's step-father, who has since been identified as Timothy Wilson II, apparently told Carvalho that their son would be eating at home that night and that everything was fine.

Read more: 10 toxic behaviors of parents that make children less functional in adulthood

"It was super strange to me," Carvalho said of the exchange. "I could see that he was super quiet and sad."

When the waitress noticed more worrying signs of abuse, including bruises and a large scratch on the boy's forehead, she decided to make a sign that read, "are you ok?"

She flashed the sign secretly behind the parents' backs so they couldn't see. At first, the boy nodded yes, "but he didn't convince me," Carvalho said.

She came back with another sign asking him if he needed any help.

"I showed him, and he nodded his head yes," Carvalho said. The waitress said she called 911 shortly after.

A police investigation into the family uncovered a suspected history of abuse.

Police told local news station WKMG that the boy had described being struck with a wooden broom, handcuffed, and was hung upside down from a door with ratchet straps tied around his ankles and neck.

WKMG also reported that the boy told police he didn't get to eat regularly as a form of punishment.

Wilson was arrested on January 6 and charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse and one count of child neglect.

The boy's mother, who has been identified as 31-year-old Kristen Swann, was also arrested on January 6 and faces two counts of child neglect for failing to report the abuse.

"By saying something when she saw something, Ms. Carvalho displayed courage and care for a child she had never even met before, and we're proud someone like Ms. Carvalho lives and works in our community," the Orlando Police Department said in a statement on their Facebook page.

Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S each year, according to a report by the National Children's Alliance. The latest data collected in 2018 showed that the most common form of child abuse was neglect.

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