A woman accused of holding a 6-year-old child underwater at a hotel pool in Kissimmee has pleaded no contest to a child abuse charge. Tiffany Griffith entered a no-contest plea on June 3 to one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony.

Incident Details

According to court documents, the incident happened at the Gaylord Palms Hotel pool in December 2025. Osceola County deputies reported that Griffith entered the pool, yelling at a child for dunking her 7-year-old son, who has autism and is non-verbal, underwater. Surveillance footage showed Griffith then began to splash water on the 6-year-old child before placing her hands on his shoulders and dunking him under the water for two seconds, deputies say.

Griffith claimed to be a former law enforcement officer and said she pushed the child to protect her son. However, the prosecutor stated at a pretrial hearing, “She wasn’t protecting her child; this is retaliation for what happened to her child.” As a result of the no-contest plea, Griffith will serve 18 months of probation and 50 hours of community service. The plea also resulted in adjudication being withheld for Griffith, meaning that if she successfully completes her probation, no formal felony conviction will appear on her record.

Original reporting: WESH Orlando — read the source article.