A Florida couple has been arrested after being accused of child abuse. Allegedly, the husband beat a 12-year-old boy for almost 30 minutes after the victim supposedly lied about a misplaced couch cushion.
In a social media post from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, Lance Eugene Rachel and Kimberly Corene Rachel of Kissimmee were detained after an investigation revealed that Lance abused a 12-year-old boy after accusing him of lying about a couch cushion being displaced in the home. Lance was charged with aggravated child abuse and battery by strangulation, while his wife, Kimberly, was charged with failure to report child abuse.
tom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">The incident occurred on Dec. 7 when Lance “maliciously” punished the 12-year-old preteen for allegedly lying about the cushion. He berated the child by screaming obscenities and physically abusing him for 28 minutes. The child was reportedly struck over 50 times with a belt. Lance is also accused of choking the boy and threatening to break his jaw. Some of the alleged abuse was caught on in-home surveillance cameras.
The Osceola County Sheriff’s Office started investigating the incident on Dec. 11 after it and the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) were informed of it. Kimberly confirmed what happened in an interview on Dec. 16, 2024.
Law & Order reported that the boy suffered injuries to his arm, and although the video did not show the blows to the arm, you can hear the boy being hit with the belt, according to an affidavit. Authorities were told about the incident by family members who saw it on the surveillance video.
The boy told detectives that he “was hit a lot but didn’t count how many times.” He also informed them that Lance also hits the other children in the home, who are 2 and 3 years old.
Lance allegedly admitted to the abuse when he spoke to detectives on Dec. 16.
Kimberly told detectives that she saw the beating on video. When asked if she counted the times the belt hit the boy, she admitted that she “stopped counting after reaching 15,” the affidavit said.After their arrest, the couple was taken to the Osceola County Jail. Lance Rachel is in jail without a bond, while Kimberly has a $5,000 bond.
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