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Highlands Today

AP Police Arrest 6-Year-Old Girl

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By Joe  Seelig | Highlands Today

Published: March 31, 2007

AVON PARK — A 6-year-old girl was in the custody of her mother Friday after the Avon Park Police Department escorted the girl in hancuffs from Avon Elementary School to the Highlands County Jail on charges relating to battery of a school employee.

It was 10:59 a.m. Wednesday when police officer Tamara L. Neale reported she was called to 705 Winthrop St., on a call about a disruptive student.

The child was upset and crying and wailing and would not leave the classroom to let the other students study, causing a disruption of the normal class activities, Neale noted in her report.

Lisa Elder, who is an exceptional student education teacher, was called in to help remove the child from the classroom, at which time the child began to hit and kick her.

"She had to be carried to the front office, at which time she continued to wail and cry and refused to communicate in any way or to calm down," Neale reported.

Avon Elementary School Principal Pam Burnham said she could not talk about the specifics of the case, but could talk about generalities and school policies.

Burnham said any time a student is in a crisis situation, the administration tries to get whoever they can – guidance counselors, administrators or in this case an exceptional student educator – to come into the room and get control back of the classroom.

"The first thing you try to do is to talk them down and remove them from the room," Burnham said. "There are times when the situation continues to escalate. At the same time we're trying to call family members first."

According to the arrest report, a family member could not be reached.

"The very last resort is to call law enforcement," Burnham said. "And the police don't just walk in here and take a child away. If the child can't be calmed down then they take it to the next step."

And it usually has to last a long time, Burnham said.

Every time a police officer comes to the school doesn't result in an arrest, she said. And there are lots of times when similar situations happen that police are not called.

After continuing to struggle, the child was handcuffed to keep her from hitting, running away and from possibly hurting herself, according to the report. An additional officer, Allison Smith had to ride with the child in the back of the police car when she was taken to the police headquarters.

She was charged with disruption of a school function, battery on a school employee and resisting a law enforcement officer without violence.

The parent continued to be unreachable and the child was taken to the Highlands County Jail. A court date has been set, but the date is listed as confidential, according to the jail central records.

A counselor from the school eventually tracked down a relative and the parent was contacted.

Avon Park Police Chief Frank Mercurio could not be reached by press time for comment. A number provided for the parent was not in service.

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