A Florida mother stood silent in court as a judge excoriated her for allegedly abandoning four young children, including an infant, to take a three-day cruise to the Bahamas.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, appeared before Miami-Dade bond court Judge Mindy Glazer on Tuesday, one day after her arrest at the Port of Miami. She faces four counts of child neglect.
“You cannot make this up,” Glazer said from the bench. “Who leaves four little kids alone to go on a cruise?”
The judge continued, “We are just grateful nothing worse happened to those kids.” Belizaire, given the chance to respond, said nothing.
Investigators say Belizaire departed Friday on a Carnival cruise and returned Monday. The father of her two-month-old daughter contacted police after spotting what appeared to be a cruise ticket purchase on Belizaire’s WhatsApp story Thursday, according to the arrest report.
That father, who shares the infant with Belizaire, told WPLG Local 10 he “never agreed to watch the children while their mom was cruising the Caribbean.” He claimed Belizarie had told him she would leave the children with their great-grandmother.
The great-grandmother told authorities that Belizaire had indeed said she would drop the children off, but they never arrived at her home.
Belizaire’s brother received a text from her Saturday instructing him to check on the children, police said. He went to the residence without a key and recorded video showing the children watching television inside. Multiple attempts to reach Belizaire failed.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue forced entry into the home. Bodycam footage captured authorities approaching the children, who were then escorted out. Police said Miami that “all four minor children were discovered inside without adult supervision and were hiding together in the bathroom.”
Belizaire has claimed through her attorney that the entire matter was “all a setup.” She alleges she texted the infant’s father on Thursday asking him to look after the children, an assertion he flatly denies. He told authorities he had believed the grandmother was caring for them.
“At this time, it’s only an allegation,” Belizaire’s attorney said in court.
The arrest report, as Miami, stated: “Based on the totality of the circumstances and evidence obtained during the investigation, sufficient probable cause existed to establish that the defendant failed to provide the necessary care and supervision for the four minor children, thereby exposing them to a substantial risk of harm.”
Glazer set Belizaire’s bond at $10,000 and ordered her to have no contact with the children pending a Department of Children and Families investigation. The children, who also include a two-year-old, have been removed from her care.