Teacher pins non-verbal 11-year-old down and slaps him in the face, Florida cops say
A teacher was arrested after she slapped a non-verbal student in the face, Florida police say.
The teacher at River Springs Middle School was charged with child abuse without great harm on Monday, Feb. 13, according to an affidavit from the Orange City Police Department.
Police said they responded to the school around noon on Feb. 8 after receiving reports of a battery incident. At the school, officers were told that a teacher had slapped an 11-year-old non-verbal student with autism during lunch break.
Video surveillance from the school shows the teacher grab the student and force him to turn around when he tried to grab a water bottle from a table, officers said in court documents. The student then tried to move his arm but was once again grabbed by the teacher, who began to “yank on his arm.”
The student then tried to stand up from the table, but the teacher put her hand on his thighs and held him down, the video showed, according to the affidavit. The teacher again “yanked” the student’s arm before slapping him in the face with an open hand.
A witness told police that she had witnessed the teacher push a different student before, court documents said.
The teacher is no longer employed by the school district, a representative from Volusia County School District told McClatchy News in an email.
“This type of behavior will not be tolerated by Volusia County Schools,” the representative said. “The safety and security of our students and staff is of utmost importance to us and we will continue to cooperate fully with the local authorities as part of this ongoing investigation.”
Orange City is about 30 miles north of Orlando.
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