Orlando restaurant worker given award for saving boy from possible abuse

Orlando restaurant worker who saved boy from suspected abuse receives award

Flavaine Carvalho was given the Good Citizenship Award by Orlando police on Wednesday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A local restaurant manager who is being credited with saving a young boy from a possibly abusive home was recognized for her quick-thinking by Orlando police on Wednesday.

Flavaine Carvalho received the Good Citizenship Award during a ceremony in Orlando.

Back on New Year's Eve, police say she was working at the Mrs. Potato restaurant on Kirkman Road when she noticed a boy at her table in distress. She then used a secret note to ask him if he needed help.

He said yes.

Officers say she saved him from abusive parents. The boy's stepfather, Timothy Wilson II, was arrested on one count of third-degree child abuse. Wilson was arrested a second time on January 6 and charged with multiple counts of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.

The boy's mother, Kristen Swann, was arrested and charged with two counts of Child Neglect. The couple's 4-year-old child was also removed from the home.

Last month, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings presented Carvalho with the Mayor's Distinguished Resident Award at a commission meeting.

Carvalho took time to remind people that if you see something, say something.

"Do what you need to do to help a kid."