Four-year-old allegedly assaulted at school

Thursday 13 October 2016

A teacher at a Jersey school has pleaded not guilty to two charges of common assault on a four-year-old autistic boy.

The Magistrate’s Court today heard that the teacher is accused of committing both alleged assaults on the boy on the same day, February 9.

The incidents happened at a school in Jersey which can't be named in order to protect the identity of the child.

Police Legal Advisor Jan Brewer said: “In the first incident, the defendant backed him up against his will by placing him on a stool and restraining him with his arm. She was assisted in this by another employee at the school. 

“The boy was distressed, he was spitting and the defendant continued the assault by wiping saliva over his face with his arm. 

“In a second incident later that same day, the defendant picked him up and held him around his midriff. In order to make him walk she kicked the back of his legs.”

The court was told the boy, who was aged four years and two months at the time of the alleged assaults, suffers from severe autism. 

Ms Brewer said: “He suffers from autism and has very little communication skills. Those that he has are largely non-verbal.  He also has sensory issues around eating and tasting. The Crown’s case is that the defendant took advantage of his vulnerability. The defendant was required to tell the victim’s mother of the incidents which happened on February 9 but failed to do so.”

A witness, the mother of the child, described her reaction when she discovered her son had been subjected to the alleged assaults. 

She said: “I felt disappointed because I thought he was in the best place and at the right school in a good environment. “

She was asked by Defending Advocate Christina Hall whether her son had ever spat in her presence. 

She replied: No, not at all that is not something he has done. I think if he does something, he does it always. It is something I have never seen him doing.”

The witness was asked if her son ever threw himself to the floor in anger? She said: “He continues to do that. It’s his way of showing he is upset, but eventually he gets up.”

The trial in front of Magistrate Bridget Shaw continues.