A Florida mother told her 12-year-old daughter to go to hell – then left her sobbing alone at a bar to go dancing.
Now she's facing five years in prison.
And wait until you hear what she told the police when they found her.
What Happened at Universal CityWalk
Amanda Thorpe, 33, of Lake Mary, took her daughter to the CW Shoreline Bar at Universal CityWalk in Orlando on the night of March 7.
At some point, another patron said something that upset Thorpe.
She wanted to leave for the Red Coconut Club down the strip.
Her 12-year-old daughter said she was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel room.
That's when Thorpe snapped.
According to the arrest affidavit, Thorpe "got livid," flipped her daughter off, said "F— you," and walked out of the bar alone.
She left a 12-year-old girl sitting on a barstool by herself in a nightlife district at 10:30 at night.
A stranger noticed the child was alone.
That stranger told the bartender.
The bartender called Universal security.
Deputies arrived to find the girl "visibly upset, crying, and sitting alone on a bar stool by the bar."
Thorpe, meanwhile, was down the street at the Red Coconut Club.
Alone on the dance floor.
https://twitter.com/NahBabyNahNah/status/2031527414463869373?s=20
Holding a drink.
Deputies found her, and she told them she thought her daughter had been with her the whole time – then claimed the girl was back at the hotel room.
Both stories were false.
Orange County deputies arrested her on the spot.
Her grandfather came to pick up the girl.
What Amanda Thorpe Is Looking At
This is not a misdemeanor.
Under Florida law, child neglect without great bodily harm is a third-degree felony – the same class of crime as aggravated assault.
Thorpe faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Florida's Department of Children and Families has been notified, meaning a separate child welfare review is now underway that could affect her parental rights.
Thorpe was released on a $2,500 cash bond and has pleaded not guilty.
The moment she walked out of that bar is not a gray area under Florida statute.
The law defines neglect as a caregiver's failure to provide supervision necessary to maintain a child's physical and mental health – and it applies on a single incident, not just a pattern of behavior.
The prosecutor's job here is straightforward.
She Thought This Was Fine
The most revealing detail in this story is not the flipping off.
It's not even the dancing alone with a drink while her daughter cried on a barstool a block away.
It's that Thorpe initially told deputies she thought her daughter was with her the entire time.
She had no idea the child was missing.
She was that drunk.
Deputies noted her eyes were bloodshot, she was swaying and unsteady, and she smelled of alcohol.
She wore party beads in her mugshot.
https://twitter.com/ULTIMAHORAENX/status/2031582716567654679?s=20
This is what it looks like when someone stops thinking of their child as a child and starts thinking of them as an inconvenience.
The daughter asked to go back to the hotel because she was tired.
That's it.
That was the crime in Thorpe's eyes – a 12-year-old girl being tired at 10:30 at night.
And for that, she got the finger and a solo dance floor at the Red Coconut Club.
The grandfather had to drive to Universal CityWalk to collect his granddaughter because her mother decided her night out mattered more than her daughter's safety.
Florida arrested her.
They should convict her too.
Sources:
- Michael Sinkewicz, "Florida mom accused of abandoning daughter at Universal Studios to go drinking at bar," Fox News, March 11, 2026.
- Josh Frigerio, "Affidavit: Drunk Florida mom forgot daughter at Universal CityWalk bar; arrested for child neglect," Fox 35 Orlando, March 10, 2026.
- Orange County Sheriff's Office, Arrest Affidavit, Amanda Laurel Thorpe, March 7, 2026.
- Florida Statute § 827.03, Abuse, aggravated abuse, and neglect of a child; penalties, Florida Senate.
