Florida circus promoters chained son to bath, filmed him starving to death
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TAMPA, Florida — Two circus promoters are accused of chaining their son to a motel bathtub and watching him die a slow, painful death.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was called to a hospital in Indiana to investigate the death of 12-year-old Eduardo Posso.
Detectives say Posso was in Indiana with his father, Luis Posso, and stepmother, Dayana Marina Flores, while they promoted a circus that opens next month. Their other children, ages 9, 5 and 2 helped the couple pass out flyers, but Eduardo was left chained to the bathtub in the hotel room, without food.
Last Friday, Eduardo stopped breathing and his father took him to the hospital where he died shortly after.
According to the coroner, Eduardo was severely malnourished with zero percent body fat.
A search of the motel room turned up restraints that were used on the young boy and a webcam tied to a towel bar, which the couple allegedly used to watch the boy as his health deteriorated, authorities said. Detectives also found cell phone pictures and videos of the boy in shackles, according to the report.
“I cannot think of, in 30 years, a case like this,” Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain told WFLA/WISH. “It’s beyond anything I’ve worked.”
Posso and Flores allegedly told investigators they abused the child because he “acted up more than the other kids.”
The couple was arrested on felony child neglect, battery and confinement charges. Murder charges are expected to follow once the coroner gives an official cause of death.
The CEO of Cirque Italia told WFLA he is horrified by the crime and stressed the couple is third-party contractors not directly connected to his circus.