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Wasatch County teacher charged for alleged abuse of disabled child

Wasatch County school district building
Grace Doerfler / KPCW
The alleged abuse occurred at Midway Elementary, a school in the Wasatch County School District.

A teacher at Midway Elementary faces felony charges after allegedly striking a child with disabilities in the face.

Angela Rose George, a special education teacher in Wasatch County School District, is accused of hitting the first-grade student in the face back in March.

Wasatch County prosecutors have since charged her with one felony count of abuse or neglect of a disabled child.

According to an affidavit from a Wasatch County Sheriff’s deputy, the abuse allegedly occurred at Midway Elementary on Thursday, March 28, 2024. A first-grade student told a classroom aide George “smacked” him above the eye. The aide took the child to the school nurse, who photographed the injury.

In an interview with KPCW, the student’s mother said her son had a “big welt around his eye” when she picked him up from school.

She’s asked to remain anonymous to protect her son’s privacy.

The school nurse and classroom aide told the mother the school was looking into the situation. The following Monday, however, the school’s principal called to tell the family George was returning to the classroom.

“She’s like, ‘Well, it’s a ‘he said, she said’ thing. There’s no real evidence of what happened,’” the mother said.

The principal told the boy’s mother it was a child’s word against an adult’s.

The boy’s parents called a lawyer, who sent a letter April 1 asking the district to investigate more thoroughly. The same day, Midway Elementary’s principal contacted the Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office about the incident.

Wasatch County School District declined KPCW’s request for comment on the allegations, citing the ongoing investigation.

But the deputy’s affidavit pieces together what happened using interviews with the student, his parents and school staff.

In an interview at the Children’s Justice Center, the boy told investigators he “wasn’t being good enough” during a reading lesson on the day of the alleged incident. He then pointed to his right eyebrow and said George hit him twice, then put him in time out.

The boy also told his mother what happened, according to the affidavit. She said she has no doubt her son was telling the truth.

“He’s a special needs student, and so language is hard, but he doesn’t really know how to lie,” she said. “Kids with special needs are very transparent.”

Several classroom aides told the deputy George is often aggressive and impatient with her students.

According to the affidavit, one aide said she and others had previously shared concerns about George’s behavior with the school’s principal.

The family’s lawyer, Joshua Jewkes, confirmed their accounts.

“After this all occurred, all this stuff started coming out of the woodwork,” he said. “A lot of other parents saying, ‘Hey, my kid had a very similar experience.’ ‘Hey, I went and complained to the principal about this lady a month ago.’ There were many, and we suddenly realized that this was a pattern of behavior that perhaps had been ignored or brushed aside, and we were at the point where that just couldn’t happen anymore.”

He said the boy’s parents want to ensure students with disabilities in the district have safe classrooms.

The child’s mother said her son, now doing well in second grade, is popular at school and “lights up a room.”

“It’s a betrayal of trust,” the child’s mother said of the alleged abuse. “And [it’s] very scary having a child with special needs – just feeling like you’re trusting the best people, but maybe you’ve been too trusting.”

She said she wants an apology from the district leaders and a promise that they will ensure all staff are trained in the proper reporting protocol.

“This slipped under the rug,” she said. “What else slipped under the rug?”

Jewkes said the alleged incident highlights the need for special education faculty to have adequate training and support.

“I have sympathy for the teachers that work in that program,” he said. “It must be incredibly difficult to deal with what they do on a daily basis, but that’s exactly why we need people who are properly trained, who have the patience, the diligence and understanding to help these children in very difficult circumstances.”

George has been on paid administrative leave since April. Her next 4th District Court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 30.

Abuse of a child with disabilities is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines.

Anyone who believes a child is being abused or neglected is legally required to report it. Utah’s Department of Child and Family Services can be reached at 1-855-323-3237. Resources about child abuse and how to report it are available on the DCFS website.