Parent Sues, Teacher Arrested After Student Breaks Leg

The special education teacher at an exclusive school is facing aggravated battery charges after a child’s leg was broken under her care. The child is nonverbal and autistic, according to the parents, who were overjoyed when they heard their daughter had been removed from the waitlist and allowed entry to the school.

According to the child’s mother, she had dropped her children off at school and went home to sleep after her night shift. A few hours later, she was awoken and notified that her child had suffered an injury at school. When she arrived, the child was on the floor and three therapists were hovering over him with ice. The mother immediately took the child to the emergency room where he was treated for a broken leg. The child was 3 years old at the time of the incident. The school specializes in special education for children up to 5 years of age.

An X-ray revealed that the child sustained a fracture to his femur, the largest bone in the body. The boy required emergency surgery to repair the fracture and was sent home in a body cast.

What happened? 

According to the teacher, the student needed to be changed because her dress was wet. She brought the child to the bathroom, but the girl struggled. It was then that the teacher “heard a loud pop” and “wasn’t sure if the student hit her head”. Since the incident occurred in the bathroom, there were no cameras to catch precisely what happened.

According to the mother, the dress was ripped, but not wet. Further, the girl’s earring was ripped out of her ear and she had bruises and scratches all over her body. It was determined that the teacher would have had to have applied a significant amount of force to break the child’s leg.

The corrective surgery to repair the child’s leg has left one leg longer than the other. Her mother reports that she is having nightmares and PTSD episodes after the incident. Her behavior has regressed and she is struggling more with her condition than she was before attending the school.

Meanwhile, the teacher has been charged with aggravated battery on a child and will face those charges in court. The school is liable for the conduct of the teacher regardless of whether they were negligent in their hiring and supervision. Allegations of negligent hiring and supervision in personal injury lawsuits concerning student abuse will always be a part of the complaint regardless of whether or not the school did their due diligence when they did the hiring. Other parents have joined the mother in expressing their displeasure over the incident. The mother has since quit her job to be with her child.

Talk to a Miami Personal Injury Lawyer Today 

Physically abusive teachers are becoming more of a story in the news, especially as concerns special needs and non-verbal students. If your child has been injured by the negligent or malicious conduct of a teacher, call the Miami personal injury lawyers at Payer Law today. We can help you hold them accountable for the abuse.

Resource:

pnj.com/story/news/crime/2022/02/28/capstone-academy-teacher-samantha-forester-allegedly-broke-childs-leg/6972250001/