Florida Teacher and Aide Accused of Tying Non-Verbal 7-Year-Old Student to Chair

Video allegedly shows an elementary school teacher and a teacher’s aide in Florida tying a non-verbal student to a chair and holding him there for an hour, according to police.

On Feb. 6, the Bradenton Police Department announced that arrest warrants were issued for Exceptional Student Education teacher Carina Chindamo, 31, and aide Taylor Internicola, 39.

The warrants charged the pair with false imprisonment of a child under 13.

Police said they obtained security camera footage from the G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School playground in Bradenton, which allegedly showed Chindamo and Internicola tying the wrists of a 7-year-old boy with a nylon rope and then wrapping it around the leg of a chair.

Authorities said the child “sat on the ground behind the chair, restrained” for about an hour. At times during that hour, “Chindamo and Internicola were observed sitting on the chair, appearing to use their weight to keep the child from getting free.”

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Court records show Chindamo was also arrested on a battery charge and released on Feb. 7 on a $500 bond, but it’s not clear if that charge is related to the school incident, which allegedly occurred on Feb 2, officials said.

The case is still under investigation and police are working to determine if any other children had been so treated.