Girl Who Fell from Disney Cruise Ship Was Allegedly Encouraged by Mom to Take Photo in Open Porthole: Police

By Colson Thayer for People

According to a newly released police report, the 5-year-old "climbed" on the railing before she "fell backward." Her dad dove in after her and both were rescued.

The 5-year-old girl who fell off the Disney Dream cruise ship was posing for a photo in an open porthole before going overboard, a newly released police report obtained by PEOPLE reveals.

On Sunday, June 29, a little girl went overboard during a four-night Disney Cruise returning to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. After falling in, the girl’s father jumped in after her. Both family members were subsequently pulled from the water by a Disney rescue team and returned to the ship. 

According to the new report released by Florida’s Broward County Sheriff’s Office, the family was walking on the fourth deck of the ship when “they stopped to take a photo of the daughter.” 

The mother allegedly “pointed to the porthole railing and the daughter climbed on the railing and sat down. The daughter lost her balance and fell backward off the railing into the ocean,” according to the police report. 

Portholes on the 'Disney Dream' cruise ship.

Mark Gauert/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty

The report states the girl fell backwards into the ocean, approximately 49 feet down, at 11:29 a.m. Less than a minute later, her father jumped in after her. Rescue crews launched their boats at 11:40 and successfully retrieved both family members at 11:49. They were transported to the ship’s medical center for treatment 10 minutes later. 

The father was later transported to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was treated for injuries. His daughter, however, was uninjured. 

In questioning with investigators, the father revealed that this was his family’s first cruise. At the time of the incident, they were exploring the ship together, and he had been walking ahead and did not see his daughter fall. Instead, he heard his wife’s “desperate” scream for help. 

During the mother’s conversation with the police, she shared the photos she had taken before and during the fall. The investigator noted they were “live pictures, and when streamed together, depict a few-second video of the child getting up on the railing, and falling backwards into the water.”

The mother, who said her daughter had taken swim lessons in the past but could not swim, “felt like there should be coverings on the windows, and cited that Disney is responsible for what had occurred.”

A representative for Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. At the time, Disney confirmed the rescue of two passengers and praised “crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.”

Detective Christopher Favitta investigated the scene himself and found the railing to be 47 inches high, and the window was “open to the air and did not have a covering.” As a result, he sent the case to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for further review.

In a Sept. 16 email from assistant state attorney Melissa Kelly included in the report, the office declined the case for prosecution. 

“While the defendant's conduct is arguably negligent and irresponsible, it does not rise to the egregious level of conduct necessary to establish criminal culpable negligence. Therefore, in light of the facts of this case along with the relevant case law, I am declining one count of child neglect without great bodily harm,” Kelly wrote.