in News, True Crime

Florida Man Filmed Himself Repeatedly Torturing Sleeping 2-Year-Old Girl While Wearing Werewolf Mask—And Even Authorities Were Disturbed

Image via Escambia County Sheriff's Office

Authorities have arrested a Florida man accused of putting on a werewolf mask as he filmed his repeated and systematic torture of a two-year-old girl.

37-year-old Andrew Bennett Ross-Celaius, who was dating the victim’s mother at the time of the abuse, was arrested by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of aggravated child abuse, child abuse and possession of a controlled substance.

Police first became aware of Ross-Celaius when the girl’s mother brought her to the hospital for what she thought was ringworm.

When hospital staff realized the marks on the girl were due to abuse, authorities were alerted. Police recovered footage from multiple surveillance cameras after searching the victim’s home. Videos were also found on Ross-Celaius’ phone.

Investigators say the videos show the suspecting shooting the sleeping two-year-old with an airsoft gun, burning her with a lighter and shocking her with a dog collar.

So far police say they have discovered video of abuse going back two months, though they are still reviewing footage kept by the suspect.

“It’s the stuff that nightmares are made of,” Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said at a news conference Wednesday. “No child should ever be subjected to this.”

“There are videos of the child sound asleep and then getting a full bottle thrown on this child, just to wake it up,” said Chief Deputy Chip Simmons. “One of the more disturbing videos shows the child actually wearing a dog collar, and you can hear the sound of the dog collar being activated.”

“I’ve been in law enforcement for over 30 years and when I looked at the evidence that we saw here, me and a number of my staff were speechless,” added Simmons.

Those reacting to the story have been equally disturbed by the descriptions of the abuse.

 

Police arrested another suspect, Eric Furnans, on suspicion of destroying evidence. After his arrest, Ross-Celaius allegedly contacted Furnans and asked him to destroy additional video evidence of the abuse.

The girl’s mother was also arrested on suspicion of neglect, but was later released after investigators determined she had no knowledge of the abuse.

Sheriff Morgan could not confirm if the girl was sexually abused but expects additional charges will follow, as they continue to review video collected during seven search warrants related to the investigation.

As far as the public is concerned, though, the current charges are more than enough to justify locking him up and throw away the entire jail.

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Written by Dennis Matthew Livesey

Matt is a writer, designer, and native New Yorker. He has worked in film, where he enjoyed a brief career as a stand-in for Ian Holm; finance, where he pretended to understand his job, and real estate, where nothing remarkable happened. He writes about science, technology, and media. His work includes magazine articles, one published book, and the looming inevitability of the second.