Bradenton teacher's aide wanted by police for tying up 7-year-old with autism: Investigators
BRADENTON, Fla. - The Bradenton teacher's aide accused of tying up a 7-year-old boy with autism along with an ESE teacher is still wanted by police.
The Bradenton Police Department said Taylor Internicola, a former teacher's aide at G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School, has an arrest warrant for a false imprisonment charge. Detectives said they've made multiple attempts to arrest her.
Internicola, along with ESE teacher Carina Chindamo, were caught on video tying up the 7-year-old student, who is non-verbal, for about an hour, according to officers. They tied up his wrists with a nylon walking rope, and wrapped it around the leg of a chair.
Bradenton police said the child sat on the ground behind the chair for about an hour, and Internicola and Chindamo were seen on the video sitting on the chair, using their weight to keep the 7-year-old boy from getting free.
Pictured: Taylor Internicola. Courtesy: Bradenton Police Department.
The boy's mother, Takeila Jones, told FOX 13 that her son is scared to go back to school after the incident. She said her son, Jhalil Richardson, is on the autism spectrum and is non-verbal.
Jones said she found out what happened to her son when she got a call from Child Protective Services and the elementary school's principal.
MORE: Bradenton ESE teacher, teacher’s aide accused of tying up non-verbal student
"I felt like emotionally just bashed at this point, because they were people that I actually really and genuinely thought had my son's best interests at heart," Jones said.
The Manatee County School District released the following statement:
"The highest priority of the School District of Manatee County is student safety. While we do not typically comment on matters which are currently being investigated by law enforcement or the State Attorney’s Office, the Bradenton Police Department has announced warrants for the arrest of an exceptional student education teacher and an aide for their conduct involving one of our students at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary. The details of this incident, as described in the Bradenton Police Department Press Release, are disturbing and reprehensible.
The District has been fully cooperating with law enforcement throughout this active investigation. All of our protocols have been followed, including the employees’ removal from the classroom immediately after the incident was reported and reassignment to other District locations where students are not present."
Chindamo was arrested on the false imprisonment charge, and has since bonded out, officials said.