The actions depicted in the video "are not acceptable, they’re disturbing,” says Mitchell Teitelbaum, general counsel for the Manatee County school district.
He’s talking about playground video released by the Bradenton Police Department showing teacher's aide Quintin Bradley repeatedly throwing the ball at a 5-year-old nonverbal child with autism with so much force he fell into the chain-link fence.
Police say Bradley was trying to make the child stop crying. Bradley is now charged with child abuse.
“It doesn’t surprise me with that individual,” says Cynthia Gonzalez.
Her son Cassiel is a student at the same elementary school. Cassiel is nonverbal and in a wheelchair.
Gonzalez says she filed a complaint about Bradley handing her son over to her with a soaked diaper and dangling in his wheelchair without being restrained.
“I was very angry the way he handed him to me, completely inappropriate to give me my child like he’s an animal.”
Gonzalez later took back her complaint but she says the video raises questions about the treatment of students with special needs at the school.
Police say the child’s teacher, Vicki Hampton, allegedly saw what happened but did not say anything.
Teitelbaum says, “This was reported to us by another teacher who actively came forward and brought it to our attention and cooperated fully with law enforcement to ensure that children’s rights are protected at all times. It’s not the status quo for any educator or any employee at any time.”
Teitelbaum says Bradley has worked with the school district off and on since 2014. This most recent time started in February of last year.
Hampton has been with the school district 25 years.
The district says its Office of Professional Standards has never received a complaint against Bradley or Hampton.
Gonzalez says, “It makes you question when you send your nonverbal child to school what’s going on behind doors and is anyone else speaking up for our children.”
The district says the minimum requirement for a teacher’s aide like Bradley is an associate’s degree and a Level 2 background check. They also go through training and orientation when joining the school district.
Investigators say Hampton may face charges for not stopping or reporting the alleged abuse.
The school district’s Office of Professional Standards says it has received four complaints regarding Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School this year. Two of those complaints include this recent case.
We are working on getting further details on the other two complaints.
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