A teacher’s aide is not reporting to class after his arrest for child abuse at a Bradenton elementary school.
The Feb. 4 incident caught on security camera at G.D.Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary school shows the teacher’s aide throw a ball several times at a 5-year-old non-verbal boy with autism.
On the playground, Quinton Bradley can be seen throwing a bouncy ball, once, knocking the child back into the fence, then twice, three times, four times, then a fake and finally a fifth time.
“He had used it to bounce it off of a child’s face,” said Captain Brain Thiers of the Bradenton Police Department.
The incident happened at recess for special needs children. Investigators tell us Bradley admitted tossing the heavy ball because the child wouldn’t stop crying.
“I’m a parent of small children. I was disgusted. I was angry. Shocked. We put faith in our teachers. We put faith in our people who watch our children. This person violated that trust of a parent,” said Captain Thiers.
8 On Your Side stopped by Bradley’s apartment in Ellenton.
A woman at the door said he wasn’t in.
The student’s teacher can be seen on the video sitting nearby, watching the entire incident.
Her attorney claims she didn’t see what happened, but the video says otherwise.
She may face charges too.
“Teachers, doctors, law enforcement, emergency personnel, we’re all upheld to that standard. If we see child abuse or even signs of child abuse or neglect, we are required by law to report that,” said Captain Thiers.
The teacher’s aide is on paid leave. The teacher herself is still working at the district, but she has no contact with students.
