Injured 6-Year-Old Boy Found Unconscious With Head In Toilet, Parents Arrested

Kissimmee, Florida -- A 6-year-old boy is on life support after he was found unconscious with his head in the toilet of a Florida hotel room.

The child’s parents, Larry Rhodes Jr., 22, and Bianca Blaise, 25, were arrested and are facing child neglect charges.

Deputies arrived at the Knights Inn hotel in Kissimmee on July 5 after a call was made to report a drowning inside a hotel room, News 6 WKMG reported.

Blaise told deputies that her son’s "head was in the toilet like he was drinking water." She also said the boy “became unconscious” at some point.

Responding officers arrived to find the child in Rhodes' arms. The boy had visible injuries on his face, swollen eyes and blood in his mouth. He had no pulse and was administered CPR before being taken to the hospital with a life-threatening brain bleed.

“At the time of this affidavit, it is unknown if [redacted] will survive his injuries,” deputies said in an affidavit, according to Law&Crime.

Investigators found that Rhodes and Blaise had been living in the hotel room since April with their six children, including the 6-year-old boy. While the parents slept on one bed, the children slept together in the second bed.

When deputies found the unconscious 6-year-old boy in the hotel room, they noticed that the couple’s 4-year-old son also had bruises on his face and cuts around his mouth that looked “fresh,” the arrest report said.

The couple claimed the injuries were caused while the children were fighting. However, the 4-year-old boy said “daddy hit me” while speaking to deputies, according to WESH 2 News.

Blaise described her children as “generally well-behaved” but said they would recreate fights from wrestling matches and UFC.

“When [redacted] misbehave[s], Bianca tells them to go stand in the corner of the room by the bathroom, while facing the wall for approximately 30-45 minutes,” deputies reportedly said. “Bianca denies ever physically disciplining [redacted] but rather puts them in the corner.”

Blaise said Rhodes would look after the children while she went to work and that he has “whooped” their children on previous occasions. She also said Rhodes had recently started becoming upset over minor things because he ran out of his schizophrenia medication over the last two weeks.

Investigators spoke to the occupants of the room next to Blaise said Rhodes. They said they heard a “thud” noise coming from the room about five to 15 minutes before deputies responded to the call about the drowning. The occupants said it sounded like a child falling.

“Blood spatter was observed on the wall near the area Bianca said [redacted] were made to stand with their noses in the corner as punishment,” deputies said.

The couple was arrested on July 6 and charged with child neglect with great bodily harm. Rhodes was later charged with aggravated child abuse as well.

Blaise was eventually bonded out of jail.