Florida City woman forced younger brother to kneel on rice for hours, cops say

FLORIDA CITY, Fla. — Florida City police say a child went to his neighbor’s house on Wednesday for help, saying “he couldn’t take it anymore.”

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That’s because they say his older sister ― his guardian ― was forcing him to kneel on rice inside of a shed for hours.

According to the Florida City Police Department, the brother of Nataly Francelia Cruz, 26, went to the neighbor just before 4:45 p.m. and said he had been kneeling on the rice since around 11 a.m., saying “this is not the first time he has been punished this way when he misbehaves.”

“I observed minor injuries on his knees consistent with kneeling for a long time on a surface with rice,” an FCPD officer wrote in the report. “He also reported that while kneeling, he attempted to use the restroom inside the house but his sister refused to let him inside the house.”

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Cruz, police said, has been taking care of the boy since their mother was deported.

A statement she made to authorities was redacted from the publicly-released report.

Police arrested Cruz on a child abuse charge and took her to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where she was being held on a $2,500 bond as of Thursday morning.

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The Honduran national also faces an immigration hold.