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Surprise ruling over cruise ship toddler death

<p>A grandfather has been spared jail after dropping hi 18-month-old granddaughter from a cruise ship window.</p> <p>Salvatore Anello was sentenced to just three years’ probation by a court in San Juan, Puerto Rico, after he plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter in October 2020.</p> <p>Mr Anello will serve his probation in his home state of Indiana after the loss of little Chloe Wiegand, his lawyer Michael Winkleman has said.</p> <p>Chloe plunged 45 metres to her death after Mr Anello placed her onto an 11th floor ledge aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Freedom of the Seas ship in July 2019.</p> <p>She died instantly after she fell from the window ledge.</p> <p>Mr Anello believed the window was secured by a piece of glass and maintains he was completely unaware that the window was open.</p> <p>He told investigators at the time that he placed her there so she could knock on the glass like she enjoyed doing at her brother’s hockey games.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7839843/chloe-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/73aaa4d710e34179a40685756cae028f" /></p> <p>Chloe’s parents Alan and Kimberly Wiegand have launched a legal claim against Royal Caribbean for negligence, arguing that an open window should not have been so close to a children’s area.</p> <p>A judge ruled on February 3 that the company can be sued for unlimited damages.</p> <p>A filing by the family read: “Royal Caribbean has demonstrably lied to this court and, in so doing, Royal Caribbean has created a false narrative to accompany Royal Caribbean’s carefully selected CCTV video upon which Royal Caribbean bases its motion to dismiss.”</p> <p>Royal Caribbean have said there was “no hidden danger” and that Mr Anello “knew the window was open”.</p> <p>They went on to say he should have used hiss “basic senses” to realise this.</p> <p>They also went on to say that camera footage showed the grandfather leaning through the open window just moments before he lifted Chloe onto the ledge.</p> <p>Chloe’s parents say that it was “physically impossible” for Mr Anello to lean out of the 11th floor window, despite what the cruise line alleges.</p> <p>They have remained supportive of Mr Anello during the legal proceedings.</p> <p>Royal Caribbean also claimed that the tinted handles on the windows would have indicated that it was open.</p> <p>Mr Anello says however that he is colourblind and therefore did not see that the window was open.</p>

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Cruise ship heartache: Little Chloe’s next step for justice

<p>The parents of a child who plunged to her death after suffering a 46-metre fall from a cruise ship window are suing for millions as they release the chilling picture of where she died.</p> <p>The toddler, Chloe Wiegand was in the hands of her grandad near to a window when she slipped.</p> <p>However, her heart-stricken family insist the blame lies with the “negligent” cruise line, which they are reportedly launching legal action against.</p> <p>The heartbreaking photograph taken of the tent covering the part of the deck that Alan and Kimberly Schultz’s baby girl died, was taken by a criminal investigator and is now being used in a negligence suit.</p> <p>They are reportedly accusing Royal Caribbean of breaching safety protocols and standards.</p> <p>The snap shows the view which Chloe’s grandad Salvatore “Sam” Anello had been balancing Chloe when he slipped and fell while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.</p> <p>It also shows a partial space between the wooden railing that Mr Anello held his granddaughter and a large, glass window that could be completely opened.</p> <p>Mr Anello is facing up to six years behind bars after he was charged with criminal neglect – however Chloe’s parents are adamant the blame lies in the hands of the cruise ship.</p> <p>Mr and Mrs Schultz are sticking by their daughter’s grandfather, insisting nothing is worse than “what has already happened”.</p> <p>The family have reportedly filed a suit against Royal Caribbean to figure out why the 11th storey window was allegedly left open.</p> <p>It is reported the family will receive “unlimited” damages for “pain and mental suffering” if their claim is successful, as Chloe died on American soil and not in the high seas.</p> <p>The grieving family’s lawyer say it will be impossible to “put a figure” on their grief however, saying “four simple words – caution these windows open – and we wouldn’t be talking about his.</p> <p>“A sticker, a decal with the Royal Caribbean logo, anything, and Chloe is still with us.”</p> <p>The family will claim in court that little Chloe was being “closely supervised” by her granddad at the time of her death.</p> <p>They will further maintain Mr Anello was “unaware” one of the large panes of glass surrounding the ship’s 11th floor had been slid open when he carried his granddaughter over to the railings.</p> <p>The case alleges the window was the only one open “among dozens” and there was no clear indication that it had been opened.</p> <p>The lawsuit also claims there was a 46 cm gap between the wooden railing and the open window, which made it even more difficult for a horrified Mr Anello to reach over and grasp for his toddler as she plunged to her death.</p> <p>They also allege that Mr Anello being colourblind made hard for him to differentiate between the glass and the open window.</p> <p>Chloe’s family have insisted the toddler liked to bang on glass, just as she did when at her brother’s hockey games – which is why her grandad had sat her on the wooden railing.</p> <p>In November, it was reported there is video evidence that supports the grieving family’s claim that Mr Anello was unaware the window was open – a potential bombshell for both the case against her distraught grandad and the family’s Royal Caribbean suit.</p> <p>Royal Caribbean has refused to comment further but described Chloe’s death as a “tragic incident”.</p>

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