A former University of Florida scientist will not have to serve any jail time and will someday be released from jail, even though he and his wife reportedly kept their two children in makeshift cages at different times of the day. Records may even be expunged.
In December 2023, a 6-year-old boy in Gainesville called authorities saying he didn’t want to go home because he didn’t want to be kept in a cage. Officers from the Gainesville Police Department and the Department of Children and Families immediately went to investigate the boy’s claims and were apparently horrified by what they saw.
In the 6-year-old’s bedroom, officers found a “large unsanded wooden enclosure” with “two stainless steel sliding latches (also known as barrel bolts) on the outside of the enclosure door.” affidavit Said. The boy also led investigators to his parents’ bedroom closet. The boy’s 2-year-old brother’s crib was reportedly found overturned on the floor there.
Police quickly arrested the children’s parents, Dustin Michael Gerald Huff, 35, and Yurui Xie, 31. Both men were charged with two felony counts of aggravated child abuse and one felony count of child neglect without great bodily harm.
At the time of their arrest, both men were working at the University of Florida. Huff was a scientist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences. Mr. Xie, a Chinese national, was a safety officer and research biologist in the plant pathology department. Both now appear to be banned from all university property.
When questioned, Hough said the boy’s box wasbed frameHe claimed that he was kept there only at night to prevent him from “waking up in the middle of the night and disturbing the house.”
However, Xie allegedly claimed that the boy was kept in the box for “several hours” even after school. She allegedly admitted that she came home from her work and locked the boy in her enclosure, after which she was going to go back to work. She told police that she and her husband were having trouble finding child care because the boy had ADHD and was frequently “disobedient.”
Regarding the upside-down crib, Xie allegedly said that once the two-year-old child was placed correctly in the crib, he figured out how to get out of it. Therefore, the couple placed the child under an inverted crib for the child’s safety, she is quoted as saying. Police said in a report that the crib overturned, leaving metal wires and springs dangerously exposed.
When confronted, Xie reportedly admitted that she knew it was “wrong” to lock the infant in an upside-down crib, but then reportedly blamed herself.husband“Thank you for doing it anyway.
On Monday, Huff was sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading no contest to one count of felony child neglect without causing great bodily harm. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped two other charges against him and recommended a deferred sentence. In other words, if he meets the terms of his probation, his record can be expunged at the end of his probation.
Mr. Xie is scheduled to appear in court on Monday. Neither she nor her husband had any criminal records before her arrest in December. The children are in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
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