Teacher Put Duct Tape Over Child's Mouth

A nine-year-old student in a Louisiana elementary school allegedly had his mouth duct-taped by a substitute teacher.

To no one's surprise, the mother of the fourth grader has said she will pursue legal action against the teacher, reports NBC. The teacher has already been internally disciplined by the school.

The child's mother said that she noticed her son was upset and that he told her that he did not want to go back to school any more. The child never fully revealed what caused him to be so upset, and school officials only discovered the alleged duct-taping incident after interviewing about 100 students.

It's not clear what prompted the teacher to duct tape the fourth grader's mouth in front of all his peers. Perhaps he was being too loud. But the child is nine-years-old, so who knows what the substitute teacher expected.

While the school district has disciplined the teacher, the student's mom indicated that she will pursue further criminal charges. The teacher has filed a report with the police and police are already investigating the incident.

A police spokesperson said that if enough probable cause exists, they will issue a warrant and have the substitute teacher arrested. If there's not enough cause, the case will be submitted for review, reports NBC.

Probable cause for the police means something different than the school disciplinary system. While the school found enough evidence to discipline the teacher, this does not necessarily mean that the police have enough evidence to arrest someone.

Generally, if a detective determines that there are enough facts to cause a reasonable person to believe that a crime was committed by the substitute teacher, the teacher may have to answer criminally for the conduct.

Given the interview of 100 students by the district, there appears to be plenty of evidence available for police. So the teacher better have a good criminal defense attorney ready.

Related Resources:

• Substitute teacher allegedly uses tape to keep 4th grader quiet (KATC)
• Texas Teacher Has 24 Kindergarteners Hit Bully (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)
• Special Ed Teacher Had Sex with Student: Cops (FindLaw's Blotter)