Crime & Safety

Ex-UF Football Player Left Child in Car While at Strip Club, Deputies Say

Monty Grow, 41, who once played for the Florida Gators and in the NFL, was released from jail on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records.

Additional reporting by Patch Local Editor Jared Leone.

A Redington Beach man and former Florida Gators football player has been charged with child abuse after he allegedly drove to the Diamond Dolls strip club in Clearwater and left a 3-year-old girl unattended in the car while he was inside.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Monty Grow drove to the strip club around 9:38 p.m. July 14 and left the girl in a parking lot at 16211 U.S. 19.

Deputies said when they arrived on the scene the child's grandparents were already there and had removed the child from the vehicle. 

As they were investigating the incident, the sheriff's office said Grow ran up to the car and admitted to leaving the child unattended.  

The child was uninjured.

Grow, 41, charged with child abuse and was released from jail on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records. 

Grow played outside linebacker for the Gators from 1989 to 1993. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL. 


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