Florida man’s systematic torture of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old left cops ‘speechless,’ sheriff says
Even the most seasoned investigators were shocked by a recent case in Escambia County.
It’s the case of Andrew Ross Celaius.
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the 37-year-old Florida man has been charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse, four counts of child abuse and three counts of possession of a controlled substance, as well as probation violation, possession of a weapon, marijuana possession and drug equipment.
In a Wednesday press conference, Escambia Sheriff David Morgan told reporters that Celaius was safely behind bars after being arrested for committing “truly heinous” acts against his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter over the last few weeks, though the exact time period of alleged abuse is still unknown.
Morgan said the mother initially brought the toddler to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola after she noticed marks on her body. Hospital staffers, trained in spotting signs of child abuse, soon determined that the toddler had burn marks and alerted authorities.
A search warrant of the home, which the mother shared with Celaius, uncovered surveillance video and images of “systematic torture.”
Footage shows the Pensacola man waking the girl up from a sound sleep by burning her with a blowtorch, shocking her with a dog collar and shooting her with an airsoft gun, similar to a BB gun. In at least one instance, Celaius wore a horrifying disguise.
“The level of terror that this child was put through, our abuser would wear a mask, a werewolf mask,” Morgan said. “If you want to think of something you could do to a child to terrorize her, this child lived through that.”
Her shrieks during the traumatic experiences could be in heard in the video, the sheriff said.
“It’s the thing nightmares are made of and no child should ever be subjected to this.”
The girl’s mother was initially arrested on neglect charges, which were subsequently dropped. She is now cooperating with investigators, who are looking into whether the girl was also sexually abused, and if others watched the videos on the “dark web.”
Another suspect, 36-year-old Eric Furnans, was arrested for allegedly destroying cellphone evidence for Celaius while he was incarcerated.
Sheriff Deputy Sheriff Chip Simmons has been in law enforcement for over 30 years, and said in the press conference that this crime will stay with him.
“When I looked at the evidence that I saw here,” Simmons, “me and members of my staff were speechless.”
This story was originally published May 3, 2019 at 11:01 AM.