St. Francis House Child Abuse Case Concludes with Pretrial Diversion

Last month, prosecutors with the Eighth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office (SAO8)  granted Marvin “MJ” Gamble, 33, a pretrial diversion in his child abuse case. The incident occurred at St. Francis house, a homeless shelter that shut down a few months ago, reportedly due to financial issues. 

Gamble was arrested in November 2025 after Gainesville Police Department Officer Kristen Hall issued the following report:

“On November 13, 2025, the defendant intentionally struck the victim multiple times in the face, mouth, and head, causing bleeding and several significant visible injuries. At the time of the incident, the [13-year-old] victim, the witness (the victim’s [mom]), and the defendant were residing at the St. Francis Homeless Shelter… 

On November 18, the victim attended school with multiple visible bruises to his face and lip. He disclosed to school personnel that the defendant had struck him several times in the face, causing the injuries observed. 

During a forensic interview, the victim stated that on November 13… he had been arguing with the witness in their room at St. Francis. The witness then called the defendant to discipline the victim. Upon entering the room, the defendant removed his belt, knocked a medicine and water bottle from the victim’s hands, and struck the victim multiple times on the arms with the belt. The defendant then stated, ‘fuck this,’ grabbed the victim by the leg, and dragged him off the bed onto the floor. The victim’s head struck the floor ‘hard,’ causing pain and swelling that lasted approximately two days. 

The victim asked the defendant why he was ‘whooping’ him, to which the defendant replied, ‘I’m not whooping you. I’m gonna beat you in your mouth.’ 

The defendant then climbed on top of the victim and struck him multiple times in the face and head with the lower portion of his palm. The victim’s lip became ‘busted’ and began bleeding. When the defendant saw blood, he stopped hitting the victim’s face. 

The witness was present for the entire incident and remained silent. Two St. Francis staff members observed the victim’s injuries immediately after the incident. The victim disclosed what happened to staff, but it was not reported to [the department of children and families] DCF that day. 

The following day (November 14), the victim attended school with facial injuries. Although someone asked him about the injuries, the victim did not disclose the abuse because the defendant and witness coached him not to discuss it. 

The victim also had a large bruise on his left thigh consistent with a human bite mark. The victim disclosed that on Sunday or Monday, the defendant bit him on the leg because the defendant was angry with him. 

The victim was medically examined by the Child Protection Team (CPT). CPT found evidence of coaching, as well as physical and mental injury. 

The examining physician documented the following injuries: a bite mark on the lower left thigh; multiple healing hematomas (3 cm x 3 cm) on both sides of the forehead and temple; a 4 cm x 4 cm hematoma on the right side of the face; resolving bruising under the right eye; swelling and healing injury to the right side of the lip; and visible significant red, purple, and brown bruising. The injuries were indicative of at least five strikes to the facial/head area and consistent with the victim’s disclosure. 

The witness was interviewed and confirmed the defendant used corporal punishment on the victim approximately twice per week. However, she described this particular incident as ‘aggressive’  and stated she would consider it ‘abuse.’ 

Post-Miranda, the defendant initially claimed he only struck the victim on the buttocks with a back scratcher and denied ever hitting the victim in the face.

After being shown photographs of the victim’s injuries, the defendant admitted to dragging the victim off the bed, getting on top of him, and ‘popping’ him on the mouth. He acknowledged that the victim began bleeding from the mouth. The defendant denied causing any other facial injuries and claimed the victim and witness were ‘lying.’ The defendant also stated that St. Francis staff counseled him that day regarding his disciplinary methods. 

The defendant intentionally inflicted physical abuse on the victim by striking him multiple times in the face, causing significant bruising and injury. The defendant’s actions were excessive and inconsistent with those of a reasonable caregiver implementing corporal punishment…”

Judge Jonathan Ramsey set the bond at $100,000.

On December 15, 2025, Gamble’s public defender submitted a bond reduction motion on his behalf. 

On December 17, 2025, Gamble appeared at his bond hearing. Gamble’s aunt and a family-friend wrote letters of support to be taken into consideration.

Judge Denise Ferrero granted the motion and reduced Gamble’s bond to $25,000.

On December 19, 2025, prosecutors formally filed a count of child abuse again Gamble. 

In January 2026, Gamble posted bond and retained private counsel from Ronnie Graham of Rev. Ron Law.

After months of litigation, prosecutors agreed to grant Gamble a pretrial intervention agreement, which generally results in a defendant’s charges being dropped if they can abide by certain conditions.

On July 20, 2026, Assistant State Attorney Nicole Reed signed the agreement with Gamble and Graham. One of the conditions is that Gamble must "not use any form of violence or corporal punishment." He also has to take classes for parenting and anger management.

GnvInfo emailed Graham to request an interview but he has not responded.

As part of the agreement, Gamble signed an affidavit of admission. 

“We did not seek medical care for the injuries,” admitted Gamble. “I take full responsibility for my actions and understand that I must handle discipline differently going forward… I am committed to continuing my parenting education, learning healthier and more effective discipline techniques, and ensuring that nothing like this happens again.”