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Miami-area mother arrested after allegedly leaving four children home during Bahamas cruise

Nathalie Belizaire, 29, of North Miami Beach was arrested on four child neglect counts after allegedly leaving her four children alone during a three-day cruise. Her attorney denies the allegation, and a judge set bond at $10,000.

4 outlets · 2L · 0C · 2R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 2). New coverage since the last version from Fox News, The Independent.

Image: New York Post
Image: NBC News
Image: The Independent
Image: Fox News

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The story, neutrally told

Nathalie Belizaire, 29, of North Miami Beach was arrested on four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm, accused of leaving her four children home alone while she took a three-day Bahamas cruise. The children include a 2-month-old and a 2-year-old; the ages of the other two were not immediately known. According to police, the father of the infant said Belizaire told him the children would go to their great-grandmother, but on Saturday, Sept. 26, he saw the TV on through the blinds and heard children inside, and called 911.

Officers entered and found all four children hiding together in the bathroom with no adult present; the great-grandmother said Belizaire told her she would drop the children off but never did. Belizaire's brother told police she texted him Saturday asking him to check on the children. She was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as she disembarked the Carnival Conquest at PortMiami on Monday, Sept. 28, and declined to give a statement.

At a bond hearing Tuesday, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer set bond at $10,000 and ordered her to stay away from the children, saying: "You cannot make this up." Belizaire's attorney said she denies the allegation; Independent reports she told a Local 10 reporter she did not leave the children and that the father was responsible for them. Carnival said the arrest was a law enforcement matter unrelated to the cruise or the ship's operation.

NBC reported the children are safe and in foster care, while the New York Post and Fox noted a January 2025 aggravated battery arrest of Belizaire over an alleged pepper-spray incident with a neighbor.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on.

Left2 outlets

Framing
Straight police-report account (NBC) and a wider account with Carnival's statement, the police chief's comment and Belizaire's own denial (Independent).
Emphasis
Arrest report detail, children's welfare, the defence response and Carnival's distancing.
Leaves out or plays down
Neither mentions the 2025 pepper-spray arrest.
For example
“Authorities said the children are safe and in foster care.” — NBC News
““Anyone who has children knows a two-month-old needs tons of attention.”” — The Independent

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right2 outlets

Framing
Leads on the judge's rebuke and the cruise, with added detail on Belizaire's prior arrest.
Emphasis
The judge's courtroom exchanges, bodycam, and the earlier aggravated battery charge.
Leaves out or plays down
Omit Carnival's statement and Belizaire's claim that the father was responsible; the Post does not mention the foster care placement.
Charged language
“flitted off”“abandoning”“rips into”“Shocked judge scolds”
For example
“after she flitted off for a three-night cruise” — New York Post
“allegedly abandoning her four young children” — Fox News