Florida teacher faces 5 years for putting hot sauce in autistic student's drink

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Miami Lakes teacher faces 5 years for putting hot sauce in autistic student's

drink

South Florida Sun Sentinel

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Miami-Dade County jury found a special needs teacher guilty of abuse after

authorities said she put hot sauce in a student's soda, WFOR-Ch. 4 reports.

Sylvia Tagle was convicted of abuse after she was accused of giving the soda

with hot sauce mixture to an autistic student to teach him a lesson. But Tagle

says the boy grabbed the soda from her desk when she was with other students.

Jurors found Tagle not guilty of three other charges, including pulling a

student's hair and not changing soiled diapers.

Her attorney says she's a strict but dedicated teacher.

Tagle taught at the Bob Graham Educational Center in Miami Lakes. Her sentencing

is set for Oct. 7; she could face a maximum of five years in prison.

For more information on this story, visit www.sun-sentinel.com

As a follow up - I believe that she was sentenced to 2 years probation.