Special-ed teacher arrested after allegedly putting 5-year-old student in chokehold



A New York City special education teacher has been arrested after allegedly putting a 5-year-old elementary school student in a chokehold.

Anthony Wicks, 46, was charged with second-degree assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child, WCBS-TV reported, adding that prosecutors said Wicks grabbed the student's neck with both hands and put him in a headlock.

'It was a very scary moment for him. … He said that ... his teacher's hands were tight around his neck, and that he said that he would be good and that he asked his teacher to let go.'

More from the station:

Wicks walked out of Manhattan Criminal Court silently with his husband Tuesday night, leaving on supervised release after his arraignment. The judge ordered Wicks not to have contact with the child, and when asked if he understood, Wicks replied to the judge, 'Yes, of course.'

This is Wicks' first arrest. He is a full-time special education teacher, and his attorney says Wicks has worked for the city's education department for five years and at a preschool for three years before that.

Police told WCBS the incident occurred Monday inside a classroom at P.S. 153 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary School in Hamilton Heights. The child's older brother told the station the 5-year-old wouldn't go in the "time-out corner" as the head teacher instructed. Wicks is an assistant teacher, parents noted to WCBS.

"He was making a fuss about going in the time-out ... and then the teacher choked him," the brother told the station. "That teacher wasn't the one who was even talking to him. ... What other people have told me is that when he was getting choked, he was crying and then wouldn't calm down."

The child's father told WCBS the principal called around noon Monday to say the boy was fine but that the parents needed to come to school.

"It was a very scary moment for him," the child's father noted to the station. "He said that ... his teacher's hands were tight around his neck, and that he said that he would be good and that he asked his teacher to let go."

A Department of Education spokesperson told WCBS, "This alleged behavior is completely unacceptable, and this employee has been immediately removed from this site. Pending the outcome of the arrest and if convicted, we will pursue their termination. There is nothing more important than the safety and well-being of our students."

The station said it has not heard back from Wicks — who is awaiting arraignment on the charges — after an attempt to reach him by phone.

One parent of a student in the 5-year-old's class told WCBS she came to school Tuesday because she was upset the school never notified her about the incident.

"I had to find out through social media," she told the station. "That teacher is the teacher of my child, my 5-year-old child, and it's so upsetting because the school did not disclose anything. ... I went to go speak in there, and they couldn't give me any information. I want to withdraw him today."

- YouTube youtu.be

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Arkansas teacher on leave for allegedly forcing 5-year-old to pull feces out of toilet 'with his bare hands'



An Arkansas teacher has been placed on administrative leave over allegations that she forced a kindergartner to pull feces and toilet paper out of a clogged toilet with his hand.

What are the details?

Ashley Murry's 5-year-old son came home from Crystal Hill Elementary School in Little Rock earlier this week and told her what happened, leaving her "horrified."

"It's degrading for a child so I don't feel like any child should have to go through this," Murry told KARK-TV, who reported that the child dug out the contents of the toilet "with his bare hands."

The mother added, "They basically made him go in the toilet and get his feces and the dirty tissue out of the toilet."

Murry alerted her mother, Tami Murry, of the incident, and the grandmother took to social media and calling local media outlets to report the ordeal.

"You want a child to put their hand in there physically and clean out the commode? No no no no no," Tami Murry told the station. "He's not a janitor, he's not a custodian, he's not maintenance, no, not at all."

In a Facebook post, Tami Murry said her grandson "is a young black male and this was done to degrade him, belittle him, and it will cause him to have anxiety." She added, "I don't know if it's racism or pure dislike for him, but something isn't right!!!!!"

Ashley Murry said that the teacher called her personally over the matter.

"She got on the phone with me and she said she didn't have an explanation, she just knew she was wrong," Ashley Murry recalled. "But she stated to the principal that she was trying to teach how not to stop up the toilet."

"I told her that's not good enough for me," the mother said, telling KARK that the teacher "needs to be terminated because you don't treat kids like this. He is a kid."

Officials at the Pulaski County Special School District said they were actively investigating the claim and that the teacher has been place on administrative leave in the meantime.

Anything else?

KATV-TV reported that this isn't the first such allegation that has been lodged against a teacher at Crystal Creek Elementary.

According to the outlet:

The mother of another Crystal Hill Elementary School kindergartener said the same thing happened to her daughter under a different teacher in the fall. The girl used too much toilet paper and was asked to pull it out with her bare hands, according to her mother. She contacted the school district who told her there would be an investigation.

"This is a common occurrence at this school it seems," the mother told the outlet. "I told them, 'I pay my taxes so you can have janitors at the school, not kids unclogging toilets.'"