‘Caged, Sprayed With Vinegar’: Florida Family Of 4 Held For Abusing, Drugging 9 Children

Last Updated:July 27, 2025, 19:03 IST

Four adults, Brian, Jill, Dallin, and Liberty Griffeth, were arrested in Fort White, Florida, for allegedly abusing nine children.

The four accused, identified as Brian Matthew Griffeth (47), Jill Elizabeth Griffeth (41), Dallin Russel Griffeth (21), and Liberty Ann Griffeth (19), were arrested this week. (Facebook)

Four adults – a couple and their two children – were arrested for allegedly abusing nine children inside their home in Fort White, Florida, where some were caged with plywood under a bunk bed, sprayed with vinegar on the face as punishment, and denied proper schooling.

The four accused, identified as Brian Matthew Griffeth (47), Jill Elizabeth Griffeth (41), Dallin Russel Griffeth (21), and Liberty Ann Griffeth (19), were arrested this week after investigators found numerous abused children at their home, NBC News reported.

According to Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, the Griffeth family is charged with aggravated child abuse. They are suspected of abusing five biological and four adopted children — ages 7 to 16 — at their home located in the deep woods of Columbia County, about 35 miles northwest of Gainesville.

The heinous crime came into limelight when one of the children showed up for camp at their local church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Branford, Fla., with a taser. The investigators were alerted after a mandatory reporter at the church raised concerns about the children, according to the statement. A “mandatory reporter" is a professional who is legally required to report suspected cases of child abuse or neglect.

When investigators arrived, the biological children were playing while the adopted children did chores. Many of the children were illiterate, and some didn’t even know their birthdays, the report added.

The Griffeths allegedly caged children underneath a bunk bed by screwing in a piece of plywood to trap them.

According to the sheriff’s office, the Griffeths used to beat the children with a cane, locked them in their bedrooms and give them non-prescribed medication.

The children had been instructed to lie about what was happening in their home and were not taken to or provided with adequate schooling to read or write, the sheriff’s office said.

One 14-year-old boy told investigators he was “routinely" locked in the bunk bed cage for most of the day and night and was only let out for meals or when “he wants to play." He said he had to hold his bladder at night until being released in the morning, as quoted by New York Post.

The sheriff’s office added that investigators believed the adopted children were “being treated unfairly compared to the Griffeth biological children, in addition to the children not knowing their full name or their own birthdays."

The family adopted the children privately in Arizona before moving to Florida. Officials say the legal adoptive status of one child is currently unclear due to a lack of out-of-state records.

The children were removed from the care of the family due to the reported abuse and are in the custody of DCF.

All four of the suspects were booked into the Columbia County Jail on the charges of aggravated child abuse, with a bond set at $500,000, the report added.

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News world ‘Caged, Sprayed With Vinegar’: Florida Family Of 4 Held For Abusing, Drugging 9 Children