Florida prosecutors have dropped charges against a family of four accused of abusing their nine adopted and foster children after determining that the family was just doing to best it could under difficult circumstances.
Brian Griffeth, 47, Jill Griffeth, 41, and their two biological children — 21-year-old Dallin Griffeth and 19-year-old Liberty Griffeth — have been released from custody after prosecutors deemed their actions appropriate for a “a poor family, devout in their faith, and raising 9 minor children in a small home,” Law&Crime reported.
The arrests came in July after one of the foster children showed up at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints camp with a Taser, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
When police contacted the church, they were told the Griffeths had recently relocated to the Florida area from Arizona. During the conversation, a woman from the church raised other concerns she had about the children’s well-being.
Detectives observed interviews with the children, who ranged in age from 7 to 16, conducted by the state child welfare. One of the 14-year-old children DCF spoke with did not know his date of birth and severely lacked literacy skills. The child told DCF he was frequently caged beneath his bunk bed by the Griffeths, and not allowed to use the bathroom.
The mother reportedly disciplined him by pressing a plywood sheet across his chest and back, leaving scars from splinters. He would also be sprayed in the face with vinegar as a form of punishment.
Another 14-year-old child in the home stated that she had not attended school in years and had no idea of her grade level. Some of the children reported sexual abuse.
But all of that came for naught last month when prosecutors decided not to prosecute the case. A notice of nolle prosequi — a Latin term meaning “unwilling to prosecute” — said that depositions uncovered “a series of blame shifting, finger pointing, and outright denials of matters contained within the initial reports and response.”
“All initial salacious gossip concerning children being treated as slaves or incidents of sexual abuse were determined to be unfounded in this investigation,” the notice said.
The child who reported being caged in his bunk was confined because the child engaged in “violence against other children, adults, and animals.” The vinegar sprayed into his mouth was a “diluted solution” that was a modern day version of soap in the mouth as a punishment.
Prosecutors said such a punishment “does not constitute child abuse.” Overall, the prosecutors said, they could not present the case to a jury, who “would be asked to consider: a poor family, devout in their faith, and raising 9 minor children in a small home, addressing the situation in a manner they deem appropriate to ensure the safety and security of the alleged victim and to also ensure no acts of violence were perpetrated upon the other children.”
The nine adopted and foster children were removed from the home this summer. It’s not clear if they have been sent back to the “small home.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
