PALM BAY, Fla. – A judge on Tuesday acquitted a Palm Bay man accused of neglecting of a child when he allegedly made the 7-year-old girl inhale from a pipe, and then posted a video of the incident on Facebook.
Senior Judge O.H. Eaton Jr. granted a motion for acquittal on the neglect charge, saying that Scott Crawley's actions were not severe enough to constitute child neglect under Florida statute, according to Local 6's news partner Florida Today.
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He said there was no evidence that Crawley failed or omitted to provide care for the child or that the child was injured.
"I've been fighting for several months to open the eyes of the court and the prosecutors, and now they're open," said Stephen Mays, Crawley's attorney.
Crawley, 42, was facing prison time if convicted on the child neglect charge, Mays said, adding that wasn't likely now based on the acquittal.
Crawley, who is in custody at Brevard County jail, will return to court today to continue trial in the same case on a charge of battery on a person 65 or older.
In a separate trial set for this week, he is scheduled to face charges of child neglect and interfering with child custody stemming from another incident involving the same child.
Prosecutors said Crawley made his daughter inhale a substance called diesel potpourri — which is legal but labeled "not for human consumption" — from a pipe in January.
In a recorded interview with police, which was played during trial, Crawley said he did it because he didn't like prescription drugs and said it helped alleviate the girl's autism and diabetes.
He said he would give his two children marijuana if it were legal, turning the video into a Facebook campaign for medicinal marijuana.
Assistant State Attorney Julia Lynch argued that Crawley's conduct was similar to giving a child another legal substance, such as alcohol, and showed that Crawley's action — in allowing her to inhale an unregulated, untested substance — could have harmed the child.
"It's very frustrating," Lynch said of the acquittal. "I don't think a 7-year-old child should be able to smoke anything. That's a question for the jury."
Eaton said if Crawley did anything wrong, it was giving his child an "inappropriate" substance.
When Lynch compared Crawley's actions to giving a child alcohol, Eaton asked if she would prosecute a case when a parent gave a child a sip of alcohol.
Crawley still faces a charge of battery stemming from his January arrest, and a jury is expected to hear closing arguments for that charge this morning.
He is accused of harming his father in a domestic disturbance.
Crawley testified Tuesday and said he pushed his father because he felt threatened.
Whatever the jury's verdict on the battery charge, it won't be the end of trial for Crawley, who faces additional charges of neglect of a child and interfering with child custody.
About a month after his arrest in January, and after Crawley had posted bond and been released from jail, he returned to his home to give his daughter insulin.
Prosecutors allege Crawley tried to flee with the girl, who was in Department of Children and Families custody, and staying with her grandparents.
Lynch said a massive search ensued and Crawley and his daughter were found 15 hours later.
The girl was so ill when she was found, she was hospitalized for days, Lynch said.