Special ed teacher charged with abuse
Deputies say video shows him slapping a student with Down syndrome
A Rio Grande High School special education teacher was arrested and charged with child abuse after deputies say a teenager recorded video of him slapping a student with Down syndrome.
Travis Castillo, 28, was booked into the county jail Wednesday.
“He was arrested and placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation,” said Monica Armenta, a spokeswoman for Albuquerque Public Schools.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Met- ropolitan
Court, a teenager told her mother that she had seen Castillo abuse his students. Her mother suggested she take a video to show to the principal.
On Wednesday, a Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputy was called to Rio Grande High School to investigate.
“(The teen) told me that a juvenile special needs student identified as MC had spilled his cereal and the classroom
teacher Travis slapped him on the back of his neck,” the deputy wrote in the complaint. “Travis picks him up from the back of the neck and pushes (him) against the wall. I observed the cell phone video of the incident and it substantiates her version of the incident.”
MC, who has Down syndrome and visual complications and hearing loss in both ears, could not be interviewed due to his disabilities, but his mother said she wanted to press charges, according to the complaint.
Castillo, on the other hand, told deputies that he was a master level special education teacher and has specialized training in dealing with “agitated special education students.” He said he did not slap MC and had been escorting him to the wall.
Armenta said Castillo had been with the school district since August 2014 and had been at Grant Middle School before being hired at Rio Grande.
She said that, while she couldn’t immediately find out the specifics of Castillo’s background check, all employees have to pass one in order to be hired.
Rio Grande Principal Amanda DeBell sent home a letter to parents about the arrest.
“At this point, the investigation centers on an isolated incident between the teacher and a student,” she wrote. “We are shaken by this allegation because at Rio Grande High School we pride ourselves in meeting the academic, emotional and physical need of every Raven in our care, especially those with special needs.”