Homeschooling’s 

Invisible Children

Child of Tai-Ling Gigliotti

Content note: Case narratives include descriptions of severe violence inflicted on children, including abuse and neglect, sexual violence, torture, and murder, as well as mentions of suicide and domestic violence. They also include photos of victims and perpetrators of violence.

Tai-Ling Gigliotti

Tai-Ling Gigliotti, an accomplished musician who was employed in a local orchestra, adopted her biological nephew from Taiwan when he was four years old. In 2007, she removed him from school, telling school officials she planned to homeschool him. Whether she followed this with the proper paperwork for her state is unclear. Two years later, at age 16, the boy ran away from home and told of horrifying abuse at the hands of his adoptive mother. Gigliotti had regularly stripped the teen naked and beat him brutally with a board and a hose; she locked him in a bathroom at night and during the day when she went to work. When he ran away the boy was covered with bruises and lacerations and had a broken arm. Gigliotti claimed that the teen was rebellious and that she only acted in self defense. Despite these claims, she was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Date: February 11, 2009
Location: Spring Hill, Florida

Documents: Date:
Anthony Gigliotti, 79, clarinetist with Phila. Orchestra 2001-12-05
Anthony Gigliotti, 79, Philadelphia Clarinetist and Teacher 2001-12-19
Deputies: Teen Beaten, Imprisoned 2 Years By Spring Hill Woman 2009-02-10
Cops: Woman brutally beat, imprisoned Hernando teen 2009-02-11
Woman accused of years-long abuse of adopted teen 2009-02-12
Woman’s boyfriend also accused of abusing Spring Hill teen 2009-02-13
Ex-family feared for beaten youth in Hernando County 2009-02-15
Orchestra figure’s widow charged with child abuse 2009-02-16
An abused Florida teen, a Philadelphia connection 2009-02-19
No answer on abused teen’s absence from school 2009-02-20
Mother denies abusing son, whom attorney calls ‘a pathological liar’ 2009-03-11
Man takes plea deal in Hernando teen abuse case 2010-03-05
Teen victim describes being locked in bathroom in Hernando abuse case 2010-05-05
Gigliotti’s fiance takes stand; says the couple feared for safety 2010-05-07
Family friend tells tale of troubled teen 2010-05-08
Tai-Ling Gigliotti takes stand in trial of tortured teen 2010-05-10
Juror describes ‘disturbing’ child abuse trial 2010-05-11
Tai-Ling Gigliotti convicted of torturing teenage adopted son 2010-05-12
Woman gets 12 years in Hernando child abuse case 2010-07-07
Gigliotti gets 12 years in prison in Hernando child abuse case 2010-07-08
Letter by Tai-Ling Gigliotti to Circuit Judge Jack Springstead before sentencing on child abuse 2010-07-08
Bail set in notorious Hernando child abuse case 2011-01-07