Charges dismissed against Aldine ISD teacher accused of injuring 4-year-old with autism in classroom

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A concerned mother reached out to Eyewitness News, upset about injuries her four-year-old daughter with autism got at school.

It happened at Aldine ISD, and now the mother is worried the teacher responsible won't be punished.

The teacher was charged with felony injury to a child in March, but she was soon released after a district judge found there was not enough evidence.

Tamika Campbell gets emotional when she thinks about her four-year-old daughter.

Angel has autism and is mostly non-verbal.

"I feel like I'm not protecting her as much as I should," Tamika said.

Tamika said Angel was hurt and upset when she came home from kindergarten at Vines Primary School on Jan. 23.

"She couldn't lift her arm up," she said. "You could literally see that. Her shirt was torn. Her arm was hanging."

Tamika took Angel straight to an urgent care center, where she said a doctor didn't find serious injuries, but was still concerned enough to put a sling on her arm.

Then, Tamika called the assistant principal.

According to the charging document, Angel's teacher also contacted the administrator and asked to see video inside the classroom, saying she was "concerned that she might have done something wrong."

The assistant principal saw the video, immediately placed the teacher on administrative leave, filed a CPS report, and called police.

We are not naming that teacher because, as of now, she has not been charged with a crime.

"If you can't deal with a child, you don't need to be in that field, period," Tamika said.

According to the charging document, video from inside the classroom shows Angel jumping off a chair nearly 50 times.

Video shows the teacher then trying to put Angel in time-out by grabbing her hand and dragging her to the bathroom while she screamed and cried.

Court records still show the case as active, but with the teacher not currently in custody or charged, this mother is losing faith in the criminal justice system.

"No telling how many other kids have had this happen to them, and nobody knows about it. That's sad," she said.

Aldine ISD sent this statement:

The district filed criminal charges and recommended her termination at the March board meeting. The criminal judge dismissed the charges, and she has requested a hearing, which is pending before a TEA hearing officer.

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