Subway Manager Avoids Jail Sentence After Locking 10-Year-Old Girl in Back Room After She Walked Across Floor He Just Mopped

James Anthony Morris Jr. pleaded guilty to child abuse on April 30, nearly a year after he was charged with false imprisonment of a child under 13

James Anthony Morris Jr

A Florida man will avoid additional jail time after he pleaded guilty to child abuse on April 30, nearly a year after he locked a 10-year-old girl in the back room of a Subway after she walked across a freshly mopped floor.

James Anthony Morris Jr. entered his guilty plea in Duval County Circuit Court nearly a year after his July 2025 arrest, according to a judgment obtained by PEOPLE. Morris Jr., 34, was sentenced to three years of probation, and was required to pay $769 in court fees, per the document. He was additionally sentenced to two days in jail after the judge took into account his time served.

He was also ordered to undergo a substance abuse evaluation, a mental health evaluation, and “follow up treatment,” according to the documents. Additionally, Morris Jr. was ordered to not contact the victim or her family.

Morris Jr. was initially arrested on July 21, 2025, per the arrest and booking report obtained by PEOPLE, following the incident at a Subway restaurant in the 9000 block of Argyle Forest Boulevard in Jacksonville, Fla.

Upon arrival, police noted in the report that the victim’s mother told the responding officers that her daughter had been taken by Morris Jr., who worked as the sandwich shop’s manager.

“The complainant told they had just ordered their sandwiches when she noticed the suspect was mopping the floors,” the booking report alleges. “She said that the victim accidentally stepped on that portion of the floor, so she told her to apologize to the suspect. That’s when suddenly the suspect grabbed the victim by the hand quickly escorted the victim to the back of the store behind a locked door.”

When the mother attempted to open the door to let her daughter out, she realized that Morris Jr. had “pushed the door closed.”

“The complainant said she fought with the suspect to open the door as she screamed for help,” the booking report obtained by PEOPLE reads. “Eventually she was able to push the door open enough that the victim snuck out and ran to safety.”

The victim’s mother then told police that as the girl approached Morris Jr. to apologize, “he took her by the hand and escorted her to a back room of the restaurant behind a closed door where he gripped her hand even tighter.”

The victim later told police that Morris Jr. “went on a rant about how terrible her parents were and that her parents were trash and terrible people,” adding that “she was really scared and thought she was being kidnapped,” per the booking report.

When the victim’s mother tried to open the door, she described Morris Jr. intentionally holding the door shut.

The victim and Morris Jr. did not know each other prior to the incident. She also told police that Morris Jr. “made no sexual advances towards her.”

A witness with the victim and her mother assisted in freeing the victim and calling 911, later telling police that Morris Jr. was “acting weird” and he “believed the victim was in danger.”

The booking report alleges that Morris Jr. “held the victim against her will for upwards of two minutes before her mother rescued her.”

Morris Jr. was booked into jail and held on $5,003 bond on July 22, 2025.