Ohio Teacher On Leave After Allegedly Throwing 9-Year-Old Student

An Ohio teacher at a school for deaf children has been placed on leave following accusations she threw a 9-year-old student to the floor last week.

The incident, which was captured on surveillance video, allegedly took place on December 6 at the St. Rita School for the Deaf in Evendale. “No matter what way you watch it, it’s very obvious that that was a malicious act. It wasn’t accidental,” Alexys Wells, the girl’s mother, told the WCPO.

In the video, the unidentified teacher can be seen picking the girl up and carrying her down the hall. The video then appears to glitch at the moment the teacher allegedly tossed the student. The child can then be seen on the floor as the teacher storms away. “When I had first seen the video, I was so outraged that I had to take a minute. I was completely speechless, couldn’t really focus on what I wanted to say,” Wells said.

Wells said her daughter is non-verbal, so she first demonstrated what allegedly happened to her. “She’s completely non-verbal so the very first thing that she did was demonstrate what had happened with her teacher,” Wells said. “She just continuously was like ‘My teacher threw me, my teacher threw me, my teacher threw me, she was angry, she threw me.'”

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which oversees the school, said the teacher was placed on leave after local police were notified. “Any actions by a St. Rita School staff member that do not exemplify respect and dignity for the children entrusted to our care are addressed promptly,” a spokesperson for the archdiocese said. “The safety of students and staff at St. Rita School is of paramount importance.”