Christian School Teacher Charged With Child Abuse
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A first grade teacher at a Christian school in Hialeah is accused of crossing the line in disciplining her students.
Ms. Beth Ann Nemec, 47, is now facing child abuse charges on three of her students. When she was notified of the charges, she turned herself in to police and was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Facility where she bonded out Tuesday afternoon.
Her 90-year old mother in law said she can't believe the charges against Nemec. She said "my Beth" loves students and wants them to excel.
Police were called to the Horeb Christian School, at 795 W 68th street, on Monday after the parents of three first graders complained to school officials about Nemec.
One student, a 7-year old, claimed Nemec put her hand over his mouth to prevent him from talking. He also told police that she would 'flick' his cheek with her finger when she felt he was talking too much. He said this happened on several occasions, according to Nemec's arrest report.
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A second student, a 6-year old, told police Nemec hit him on his butt because he was sitting on his feet in his chair. He also said she once hit him on the top of the head, and placed her hand over his mouth, to stop him from talking, according to her arrest report. She also reportedly 'flicked' his fingers when he raised his hand, according to the student.
The mother of the third student, a 6-year old, said when she noticed a bruise on her son's left arm, and scratches on both arms, she asked what had happened. He reportedly told his mother that Ms. Nemec had tightly grabbed him and when he told her she was hurting him, she replied that she didn't care.
When police questioned Nemec about the accusation, she said "I didn't know I scratched him."
Nemec was taken into custody and charged with seven counts of child abuse without great harm.
"These are not serious injuries but unfortunately, she crossed the line. This is considered a battery. You are not supposed to touch a child in the state of Florida, an unauthorized touch. The teacher is not authorized. The school is not authorized. The parent's cant give that authorization to the school. It's against state law and that's what she did, " said Lt. Carl Zogby , spokesman for the Hialeah Police Department.
Nemec's neighbors said they don't know what to think of it all.
"That freaked me out because she doesn't look like she would do such a thing. Honestly, she looks nice at least with her kids and the neighbors and I've never heard any noise at all. I let the kids play here with my grandson and I've never seen any bruises or scratches or nothing," said neighbor Maria Accona.
"Well as a parent you don't want anyone touching your kids. That's my opinion on that but we just see and wave a little bit but I wouldn't be able to give an opinion one way or the other on her," said neighbor Chris Bloom.
The school's principal, Cindy Montes De Oca released a statement about the incident saying, " At Horeb Christian School, the safety of our children and staff is paramount. Our school has zero tolerance for any type of behavior that would endanger the safety of our students. We are very saddened by the allegations against Mrs. Nemec, and are fully cooperating with the authorities as well as conducting our own internal investigation. Mrs. Nemec became part of our staff full-time this school year, and served as an on-call substitute last school year. Prior to employment, all of our teachers are vetted as per the Florida Department of Children and Families' protocol.We will continue to cooperate with authorities throughout this process."
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