8-year-old special needs student’s mouth taped, wrists tied at school, mother says

By Christine Sloan

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    NEW JERSEY (WCBS/WLNY) — A mother claims her 8-year-old daughter with autism was tied up with tape by staff at her New Jersey school.

Kasi Spinelli of Toms River claims a teacher and staffers restrained her daughter with painter’s tape in her special needs classroom at Russel O. Brackman School in Barnegat Township.

School staff tied up 8-year-old with tape, mother says

Spinelli said she adopted her daughter Victoria in November after fostering her for a year. Victoria was diagnosed with autism and is nonverbal, she said.

“She’s just been let down so many times, so many times, and I’m done. No one’s letting her down anymore,” she said.

Spinelli claims a teacher and four staffers put painter’s tape over Victoria’s mouth and around her arms and legs.

“She had tape over her mouth,” she said. “Her wrists were bound together with tape and her ankles were bound together with tape.”

Her daughter has been irritable and acting out since, she said.

Spinelli said police showed her photos of her daughter restrained.

“I was told it was a joke, and that it wasn’t done for restraint purposes,” she said. “It upsets me. It enrages me. It scares me.”

Spinelli said a teacher saw the photos, which she believes were taken on separate days in March.

“And I really want to thank the whistleblower who was brave enough to come forward,” she said.

School district fires teacher, 4 staffers

Barnegat Township School District officials told parents that all five employees involved were fired.

“This was absolutely egregious,” Superintendent Dr. Brian Latwis said.

In a letter to parents, Latwis said the district did its own investigation before the firings and, “We took immediate action to contact partner agencies to ensure we hold staff accountable.”

“Through our interviews we were not able to ascertain what the motivation behind this action was,” Latwis told CBS News New York in a phone call.

Police are now investigating and the district will put teachers through refresher courses to make sure this doesn’t happen again, he said.

Meanwhile, Spinelli’s attorney said they are unaware of a criminal investigation, but are pursuing legal action.

“If you’re an educator out there and this isn’t the job for you, please find another job,” Spinelli said.

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