Dayton Public Schools officials have terminated a staff member for physically assaulting a nonverbal and autistic 3-year-old on the campus of one of its early learning institutions. The employee in the video hit the child so hard it caused him to smack the ground then he proceeded to pick him up by his feet and carry him upside down.
The child’s parents took the video to authorities on August 21st and are demanding that immediate action to take place. The boy’s father, Robert Tootle, claims when he went to pick his child up he wasn’t told the full story of what went down. but was later informed by Child Protective Services of the details seen in the video given to the family on Sept. 11. “It just made me mad,” Tootle explained to WHIO TV 7. Tootle and Taneshia Lindsay, the boy’s mother, and their attorney, Michael Wright are trying to figure out why an arrest hasn’t been made yet. “They shouldn’t have sent him home pending investigation. He should have left that school in handcuffs,” Lindsay said.
“There’s a lot of questions that are unanswered that we need to have answered,” Wright said to the Dayton Daily News. The DPS Interim Superintendent David Lawrence released a statement about the disturbing video that read: “After this incident, the District took immediate action to investigate and remove the employee. The actions seen in the clip are contrary to all employee training, do not promote a culture conducive to learning, and are not tolerated in Dayton Public Schools,” Lawrence said. “Although the District cannot publicly comment on specific personnel matters, parents and guardians should be assured that the individual is no longer employed. The safety of all students and staff is the District’s utmost priority, and we appreciate the support of families as we work to provide a safe school environment for all.”
The mother also spoke out on her Facebook account to share how she felt about the ongoing case.
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“I’m literally overwhelmed with comments and dms so give me a minute to go through everything and reply back please!! Also I just wanted to say, I’m not saying Rosa Parks is a bad school as a whole,” she wrote. “My issue was with the principal lying about what really happened, not notifying us immediately, and not getting Braylen any medical attention after he clearly hit his head hard asf.”
Dayton Police handed the case to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office for potential charges. The Prosecutor’s Office has forwarded it to the Juvenile Court, where they are presently reviewing possible charges.