Pictures Of Disabled Girl With Her Mouth Taped Shut By Teacher Causes Internet Uproar

A couple of weeks ago, news broke out about CBP agents detaining an ambulance on its way to the hospital so a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy named Rosa Maria could get a surgery.

The girl was held by immigration authorities for weeks before her release a couple days ago. Now, another girl named Rosa with cerebral palsy made the headlines for the abuse she suffered at the hands of a Michigan school teacher, Nesa Johnson.

She taped the disabled student’s mouth shut. This is just one of the many horrific examples of the repeated mistreatment that 26-year-old Rosa Smith suffered while attending High Point School in Ann Arbor, according to a lawsuit filed last Wednesday.

When Rosa Smith had her mouth taped shut, Johnson had the nerve to text Smith’s mother a picture of her daughter bounded, along with a text that read, “Help. She won’t be quiet!!!” This was something that obviously tormented the Smith family.

“Taping a special-needs student’s mouth shut is appalling in-and-of-itself, but was especially torturous for Rosa, who is physically unable to remove the tape, has trouble breathing and clearing her throat, and breathes out of her mouth,” read the lawsuit. “Defendant Johnson’s actions put Rosa’s life in jeopardy. Furthermore, hair and skin were missing from the area of Rosa’s face where Johnson removed the tape.”

But it gets even more troubling for the 26-year-old, according to the lawsuit. In addition to being humiliated in such fashion with duct tape, staffers at the school have also been accused of overmedicating her, slapping her, and locking her in the bathroom over extended periods of time.

Also, back in 2004, staffers spilled hot coffee on Rosa and didn’t immediately notify the mother. She found out when she met Rosa at a bus stop and saw that the skin on her leg was burned off. When she complained, the school denied any wrongdoing and claimed the burn was self-inflicted.

This and many other forms of abuse have been part of Smith’s day-to-day life. The lawsuit contains several more stories of systematic abuse towards the disabled woman over the course of the years.

Many people have reported the mistreatment that Smith’s daughter has received, but it wasn’t until now that they’ve decided to take serious legal action. Her complaints to the school board have been ignored up to this point.

Article inspired by NY Daily News // Teacher taped disabled student’s mouth shut, texted parents horrific photo: lawsuit