A former employee of Peoria Unified School District has been slapped with a felony child abuse charge after allegedly hitting a non-verbal autistic child on a school bus. Aged 70, Mary Ellen Padgett, a former transport aide, was arrested following the event that police say took place on March 8, captured by the bus's surveillance cameras.
During the ride home on Interstate 17 near Loop 303, Padgett is accused of hitting the child multiple times. Court documents acquired by 12 News state that the incident began when the student became "agitated" after Padgett was feeding him cereal. Having put a blanket over his head, the student spat toward Padgett, leading the accused to strike the student with an open palm at the back of his head, as had been reported to get up from her seat and push the child's head twice on the right and once on the left.
In response to the incident, the child's mother branded Padgett a "morally bankrupt coward" in her initial court appearance, calling the actions of the former PUSD employee cowardly and asserting, "Nothing you can ever say will matter to me or help restore my son's dignity," as mentioned in 12 News.
The arrest came after the bus driver reported the incident to a superior, who consequently notified the Arizona Department of Public Safety. Detectives reviewed the video evidence leading to Padgett's arrest. The child's father, David Farrow, told 12 News about concerning changes in his son's behavior following the incident, including hitting himself on the back of the head, a sign he now believes was his son's method of communicating that "something was amiss."
According to a statement from PUSD obtained by Arizona's Family, Padgett was terminated on March 14. The statement also mentioned the district's immediate actions to involve the Department of Child Services and law enforcement following the incident's initial reporting. Padgett, who had been an employee with the district for five years, now faces serious charges with her professional future uncertain and a legal ordeal ahead.
