A teacher assistant at a Miami daycare has been arrested on charges of child abuse, after being captured on surveillance footage abusing a 6-year-old boy, as reported by Miami-Dade police; the daycare, Interamerican Learning Center, has fired the assistant, Marlene Carballo, following the incident.
According to WSVN, Carballo, aged 52, can be seen in the video attempting to forcefully place the child in a chair, hitting him, and using her legs to restrain him, additionally compelling the child to strike himself, with these actions corroborated by witnesses including the child's therapist which led to her immediate termination by the daycare's director.
The incident unfolded at the daycare's location at 1521 NW 28th St. in Miami's Allapattah neighborhood; authorities revealed in court yesterday that the child has autism, and despite passing all required background checks, Carballo had been employed at the daycare for just nine days prior to this event.
Following the report of abuse, police officials visited Carballo's home to conduct an interview, during which she initially denied any abuse despite video evidence, but eventually made an admission, details of which were omitted from the report; upon her release on a $3,000 bond from Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, Carballo declined to comment to Local 10 News, and a man accompanying her cast doubt on the allegations saying, "No abuse. Ay, cameras. What abuse? What child?"
Interamerican Learning Center gave a statement highlighting that the abuse was observed by several therapists working in the classroom, who then reported it to the director, with the center's director telling Local 10 News that the child is now doing better and has been part of their community since infancy.
