FORT WHITE, Fla. — Four adults were arrested and nine children were removed from a home in Columbia County after allegations of abuse.

Brian Griffeth and his wife, Jill, and their two adult children, 21-year-old Dallin, and 19-year-old Liberty have been charged with aggravated child abuse. 

The investigation started with a report to the Department of Children and Families by a woman who worked at a local church. According to the arrest affidavits, the woman told DCF one of the teenaged children brought a taser to a camp at the church. She also said she was concerned for the way the children were being treated, and claimed the Griffeths adopted African American children who they treated unfairly.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the family moved to Fort White from Arizona. The have nine children ranging in ages from seven to 16. Of the nine children, five are biological and four were adopted in Arizona. 

During their first visit to the home, DCF observed the biological children playing or watching TV while the adopted children were working on chores.

DCF and deputies with the sheriff’s office removed the children from the home on July 3, 2025. Over the next couple of weeks, investigators with DCF interviewed the children. Court records revealed at least one child said he was often caged under a bunk bed as a punishment.

Other children said they were punished with vinegar sprayed in their faces and their mother would make them lie down while she pressed a sheet of plywood on their backs or chests. The affidavit also states many of the children do not know how to read, and one child claimed she had not attended school in over five years. 

The children also accused Brian of physical abuse and locking them in their rooms.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office also confirmed the Griffeths have a tenth foster child. That child is in Arizona with their biological mother. 

The four adults were taken into custody on July 22 and they remain in jail on a $500,000 bond, each.