A local teacher has been arrested following an injury to a student during an attempt to discipline him.
Special education teacher Melissa McDaniels of Kemp ISD, located in Kaufman County, was arrested on a felony charge of injury to a child. She reportedly made bond shortly after her arrest.
McDaniels allegedly used force when she attempted to discipline a six-year-old student who has ADHD, per Fox 4 KDFW. Another teacher who witnessed the alleged incident reported the incident to the school.
The child’s parents, Todd and Brodie Sexton, spoke to Fox 4.
“For him, to be in that program as special needs, to attack him like that and throw him around like he’s nothing,” Todd said. “Especially with someone with that many years of experience. That person being older and doing that to a 6-year-old child.”
“I was told that it was in the best interest of the school and the students that she no longer work there,” Brodie said. “Come to find out she put her hands on him. I did not know to what extent.”
According to the parents, the school invited them to watch the surveillance video of the incident, which was subsequently turned over to the Kaufman County District Attorney’s Office, according to Fox 4.
“He’s acting up and standing on a desk,” Brodie told the news station, describing what she saw in the video. “And she walks towards him, and he jumps off the desk. She was behind her desk. She yanks him by the arm as she did that. He slammed into the wall around like this and then falls in front of the desk he was standing on.”
A second video allegedly shown to the parents showed the altercation continuing as it spilled over into the classroom next door.
“She’s got her arm like around his neck. He is trying to get away. He is saying, ‘I hate you! I hate you!’ He gets away,” Brodie said. “She is invading his personal space. Instead of letting him calm down, she is egging it down and chasing him. He turns around, and he tries to kick her. She swipes his leg and lifts it up, and he lands straight on his butt.”
“She shoved him back. That’s why he went to kick,” Todd commented.
According to Kemp ISD, McDaniels resigned after an internal investigation, reported Fox 4.
Several North Texas teachers have been arrested in recent months for a variety of reasons, including an improper relationship and possessing child porn, as covered by The Dallas Express.