When you drop your child off at school, I am sure you are assuming that they will be well cared for. Or at least that is the average parent's assumption. Particularly if the child has special needs. After all, to be a special education teacher you need an additional year of schooling, the proper certifications, and a lot of compassion. Unfortunately, some people seem to make it through the cracks. Now, 3 teachers are being accused of taping down a student with Down syndrome as part of a punishment.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Teachers Accused Of Taping Down Student With Down Syndrome
At this time, a special education teacher and two paraprofessionals were arrested for allegedly taping down a student with Down syndrome. The NY Post shares that surveillance footage captured the entire horrendous act. Krystina Rena Haas, 35; Prisicilla Gutierrez, 22; and June Tryon, 57, were all caught on camera.
Apparently, the heinous punishment lasted for four hours and 15 minutes, in which these adults taped up the arms of the student and forced them to walk in circles for hours while being cursed at. According to Haas, the primary special education teacher, the child's hands and arms were taped after he "repeatedly flipped her off and refused to complete his work." Additionally, she mentioned that they had done this to this child once before.
They Feel No Guilt
You may assume that once you are caught committing such a disturbing act that you may feel an ounce or so of remorse. Well, it would appear that Haas has none of that. The video footage shows the child entering the classroom and being instructed to walk in circles. Two hours later, Haas storms across the room and screams in the student's face.
Then she orders her paraprofessionals, Tyron and Gutierrez, to bind the students' arms. So then the three teachers tape down a student with Down syndrome so he could no longer move his fingers. To make matters even worse, Haas even later added more tape to tighten the wrapping.
Even after she was questioned by police, Haas seemed complicit in her actions. "It' not going to hurt them to stand for four hours or to walk," she said before being arrested. Also, she continued, "They're not precious babies, they're 14 or 15-year-old teenage kids." I guess being a teenager means you don't deserve respect?
Honestly an utterly bizarre situation. Currently, the three women have each been charged with injury to a child, elderly individual or disabled individual and booked at the Smith County Jail. They were also slapped with high bonds. Haas's is set at $300,000 and the other two are each $150,000. Additionally, all three were fired from the school district...obviously.
The school has been cooperating with the police and has launched an internal investigation.
