Cops: Special needs child assaulted by aide

A 12-year-old special needs student was allegedly kicked and dragged by a teacher’s aide, authorities say.

LOWER SALFORD » A 12-year-old special needs student at Indian Valley Middle School was kicked and dragged by a contracted one-on-one teacher’s aide, investigators said in court documents.

The aide, Erin Horan, 33, of Horsham, has been charged with simple assault and harassment.

Another teacher’s aide who witnessed the incident said he heard Horan scream at the student, “Get up right now and go back to class,” and “You’re not going to be happy when I get there,” immediately before the alleged assault, the documents show.

School surveillance video shows the student walking toward the exit on the Gruber Road side of the school, going out the interior set of doors and sitting down on steps in the vestibule area about 1 p.m. April 12, Lower Salford Township police Officer Kimberly Kratz wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed April 19 in District Judge Albert Augustine’s office in Harleysville.

Horan is then seen walking down the hallway and into the vestibule, where she bends down and grab’s the student’s left wrist, pulls up on his wrist and arm and throws his arm out to the side, causing him to twist and roll onto his left side and stomach, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit, which identifies the student as TW, continues: “Horan is seen bending down over top of TW while he laid momentarily on his stomach. Horan then grabs TW’s right arm with both of her hands and attempts to pull him up. Horan is unable to pull him up and then pushes him back to the floor, face down on his stomach.

“After pushing TW’s face down on the floor, Horan is seen kicking TW twice on the right side of his stomach and chest area. At this point, TW is on his stomach, leaning on his forearms with his head up. TW’s head is at the threshold of the interior doors at the top of the steps in the vestibule. Horan is seen stepping over top of TW and stepping in front of him, grabbing his wrists, lifting his upper body off the floor and dragging him across the threshhold of the door onto the carpet in front of the interior doors. After dragging him through the door by the wrists, Horan drops TW to the floor.

“After dropping him to the floor, Horan steps over TW’s back, placing one foot on each side of his body, bends down, reaches under TW’s arms and physically pulls him up to his feet. Horan began pushing TW before he had fully gained his balance and TW was seen stumbling and momentarily bracing himself against the wall with his right hand until he gained his balance. Horan continued to forcibly walk TW down the hall holding his left forearm with her left hand and keeping her right hand on his right shoulder.

As Horan was seen forcibly walking TW down the hallway, TW was crying and visibly upset.”

Horan took the student to the entrance to the boy’s bathroom, pointed and shook her finger in the direction of the bathroom door and pushed the student toward the bathroom entrance before walking out of the view of the video, the affidavit said.

At no point during the video did the student try to run from the school and he was not physical or violent with any school staff members, the affidavit said.

In a report on WPVI channel 6 news, the student’s mother called the incident a “nightmare” and said the student does not want to go back to school. She said she’s happy an arrest was made but said she would have liked to have seen it happen sooner, rather than the student being allowed to remain in school with Horan after the incident.

“Upon learning of the allegation, the school’s administrative team immediately reported the allegation to the appropriate authorities, including the police, opened an internal investigation, and terminated the contract which permitted the contracted aide to work at the school,” Souderton Area School District said in a statement. “The District’s first priority is to ensure the safety of its students, and it continues to cooperate with county and local authorities as the investigation continues.”