Florida Bullying Suicide: Step-Mom Of Teen Charged, Arrested On Child Abuse Charges

The mother of one of the teens accused of bullying a 12-year-old Florida girl who committed suicide has been arrested by police on child abuse charges, in a case which is unrelated to the death of the girl, according to authorities.

The Sheriff’s Office says Vivian Lee Vosburg, 30, of Lakeland, was being held without bond in the Polk County Jail on two counts of child abuse with bodily harm and four counts of child neglect.

Vosburg is the mother of one of the girls charged with third-degree felony stalking in the case of Rebecca Sedwick, 12, who killed herself after being bullied physically, emotionally, and via the internet during 2012 and 2013.

According to the affidavit, the Sheriff’s Office was alerted by several tips to a video posted to Facebook in which Vosburg is seen punching and cussing at two 12-year-old boys that had been fighting.

Four other children are seen in the video which was posted by one of the kids in July and according to the Sheriff the woman charged has “access” to all six children.

The Florida bullying suicide case has gripped the nation because of the young age of the girls involved and the tragic end to the life of Rebecca Sedwick who jumped to her death from a tower in an abandoned plant on September 9.

Both girls have been released into the custody of their parents.

The affidavit in the unrelated child abuse case indicates that Vosburg admitted to being the woman in the video and punching the boys.

Fox News reports the mother and daughter were being held in the same jail at the same time.

“This clearly indicates to us that this appears to be a normal way of life,” Sheriff Judd said at a news conference. “They’re laughing and cussing and throwing the F-bomb around, then they’re posting that conduct for all to see.”

The Florida bullying suicide of Rebecca Sedwick, drove the Sheriff to comment, about Vosburg’s step-daughter, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”