Rep. Rudman files bill increasing safety measures for child custody exchanges

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Rep. Joel Rudman, R-Navarre, filed legislation to increase security and safety during child custody exchanges after a woman went missing following an exchange with her ex-boyfriend in 2022.

Marcus Spanevelo is scheduled to appear in front of a trial on Jan. 29, 2024, relating to the death of Cassie Carli, his ex-girlfriend.

“It was this tragedy that brought this situation to life for us,” Rudman said. “The fact that there are numerous, contentious custody exchanges across the state that can get very heated.”

Rudman explained that the bill would require each county’s sheriff’s department to designate a space for a safe exchange location. This could include the parking lot of a sheriff’s station or substation.

“They’d have to be adequately lit, designated and land marked, preferably with a purple light in honor of Cassie Carli,” he said. “And these locations would have to be monitored with video monitoring 24/7 and that footage has to be retained for at least 45 days.”

The bill is being co-sponsored by Rep. Hillary Cassel, D-Hollywood, who was able to join Rudman in the press conference Tuesday.

“I know it maybe doesn’t have all of the language that we had originally hoped for, but the beauty of it is is that this is going to be a huge change in the state of Florida,” Cassel said.

Close friends of Carli joined in the filing ceremony and commented on the importance of the bill.

“I think this bill is going to be huge if passed into law to help families, not just women,” Eric Vine, a longtime friend, said.

”Anybody who has gone through child custody knows that child custody can be a messy thing,” he said. “I think what I learned from this experience of losing my friend is you come to this false conception that a Walmart parking lot is going to be safe or a beach parking is going to be safe.”

Vine explained that it was his security camera footage at his business that caught Spanevelo driving in the opposite direction of where he claimed he was going the night of Carli’s disappearance.

He was able to provide the major crimes investigator with the footage so law-enforcement could apprehend the ex-boyfriend.

Vine added that Rudman has done an amazing job keeping the bill moving after it failed to make it out of the House Rules Committee during the previous session.

“He’s been very much they are for everyone,” Vine said. “I know he’s a busy man, has a lot of things on his plate, but he’s always taken our calls, returned our texts, he’s never been too busy for us.”