Florida teacher, aide accused of tying nonverbal child with autism to chair for one hour

A Florida teacher and her aide are facing charges after police said they tied a non-verbal 7-year-old student with autism to a chair for an hour.

The alleged incident happened Friday at G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School in Bradenton.

According to Bradenton Police, Carina Chindamo, 31, and Taylor Internicola, 39, were captured on security camera video tying the the boy's wrists with a nylon walking rope, which is used to teach students to walk in a line.

The rope was then wrapped around the leg of a chair as the boy sat on the ground nearby restrained for about an hour, police said.

In the video, Chindamo, an Exceptional Student Education teacher, and Internicola, a teacher's aide, were seen sitting on the chair, "appearing to use their weight to keep the child from getting free," police said.

The school's principal notified the child's mother after the school's guardian observed what happened on the school's surveillance camera and reported the abuse.

Chindamo was taken into custody on Tuesday and Internicola has not yet been arrested, police said.

Both are expected to face false imprisonment charges, police said.

In a statement, the Manatee County Schools district said while they don't typically comment on matters that are still under investigation, the details described in the police report are "disturbing and reprehensible."

"The District has been fully cooperating with law enforcement throughout this active investigation. All of our protocols have been followed, including the employees’ removal from the classroom immediately after the incident was reported and reassignment to other District locations where students are not present," the statement said.