Sunburned Foster Kids Forced To Stay Out In Sun: Foster Parents Made Sunburned Children Suffer In Florida Sun [Video]
From the archive: published May 18, 2015, 11 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Last week, two sunburned foster kids were allegedly forced by their parents to stay out in the sun while vacationing in Daytona Shores, Florida. The couple from Phoenix City, Alabama, have been charged with two counts of child neglect after ignoring the pleas from their children to get them out of the sun. Staff at the Hawaiian Inn called police when they noticed the foster parents didn’t take any action to get their children inside and out of the harmful rays. According to the staff, the kids were made to stay out in the sun with with their serious condition, WKMG Local 6 reports.
Mounir El-Rhazouani, 31, and Rebecca El-Rhazouani, 32, were arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with child neglect. Daytona Beach Shores Police report reveals that “dispatch advised the intoxicated parents refused to take [their child] out of the sun.”
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Hotel staff said at least one child appeared to be dehydrated and sunburned, but the parents refused to get them inside. The children are described as being 2- and 5-years-old.
When police arrived at the hotel where the sunburned foster kids were reportedly forced to stay outside, they were gone. Authorities learned from the parents that the children were upstairs, alone in their hotel room, while they continued drinking by the pool. A video of the incident is seen above.
A security officer at the hotel can be heard telling police this in the video: “The child wanted to get out of the sun so bad that it was literally running to that door over there, screaming, trying to get into the door, and the father would not take the child inside.”
The foster parents did inform the police officer that one child has Eczema, which made more sense as to why the child had the look of being sunburned. Authorities say, however, that the kids were left by themselves in a hotel room with beer and a pocket-knife that were within reaching distance. The foster mother is heard telling police: “My poor babies, oh, my gosh, my poor babies. I was going to put them to bed, I promise, I was going to get my stuff and put them to bed. Oh, my gosh.”
The couple has since been released on bond from the Volusia County Jail, the New York Daily News reports.
According to the report, Rebecca El-Rhazouani has no comment. It’s unknown what will happen next for the foster kids who were allegedly forced to stay out in the sun.