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When a teacher accused of child abuse struck a young nonverbal autistic boy on his legs with a wooden pointer, she not only broke it but swung it hard enough that a witness heard the air hiss, authorities allege.
The allegations against Melody Jean Tappin Carter — a Harley A. Harmon Elementary School teacher — are outlined in a Clark County School District Police Department affidavit made public this week.
The 58-year-old woman was arrested on one felony count of child abuse last week. She’s since bailed out of the Clark County Detention Center.
An aide who was assigned to Carter’s class reported the alleged incident on May 2, the day it occurred, police said.
It was 9:30 a.m. when the boy, 5, was sitting shoeless on the floor next to the aide, police said. Apparently being barefoot irked Carter to the point that she grabbed a pointer and yelled at him to put his shoes back on.
That’s also when Carter swung the stick at the boy’s legs repeatedly, breaking it on the fifth blow, police said. “I have more of those,” Carter allegedly said before throwing the pointer in the garbage, the aide told police.
The aide said the boy “yelped and was crying a little and appeared to feel pain but seemed to be OK shortly afterwards,” according to the report.
Although the boy was wearing jeans, he still bruised, the aide and a school nurse confirmed, police said.
The aide told investigators that when Carter grabbed the pointer “and approached (the boy), he crunched into the fetal position and began to cover his legs with his hands,” as if “he was hit with the pointer before and was afraid,” according to the report.
Carter was hired by the school district in 1996, police said. She was “assigned to home” while the investigation continues, officials said.