Westport teacher found not guilty of allowing abuse of her special-needs student

[Guest guest]

By Grant Welker

Herald News Staff Reporter

Posted Sep 15, 2010 @ 10:38 PM

FALL RIVER —

A District Court jury found Westport special education teacher Rego not

guilty of allowing abuse of one of her students at the Macomber Primary School.

The decision, made Monday, ends a case that goes back to January 2008, when Rego

and teaching aide Liberty were charged with allegedly mistreating special

education students. In May, Liberty was given a form of probation that would

dismiss those charges if for two years she has no contact with the victim,

doesn’t work in a classroom, and takes courses on how to work with autistic

children.

Both teachers had their charges reduced from what was initially filed.

A month after the incidents, Rego’s original charge of permitting injury to a

disabled person was changed to permitting abuse to a disabled person. Liberty,

initially charged with assault and battery on a mentally handicapped person, was

instead charged with simple assault and battery.

“We are very pleased with the result,” Rego’s attorney, van Colen, said.

After the charges, Liberty was taken out of the Macomber School and moved to

human relations in the district administration office. Rego remained teaching at

the school.

Liberty, as part of the plea deal she agreed to in May, admitted to facts

sufficient to warrant a guilty finding had the case gone to trial. If the

requirements made under the plea are not met by the next scheduled hearing in

May 2012, the court could go forward with a trial.

The two teachers were charged after a special-needs student’s parents and two

other teachers told police that Liberty and Rego were abusive to some students.

A substitute teacher in the class told police she saw “disturbing events,”

including Liberty stepping on the feet of a student who kept removing his shoes

because of sensory issues related to his disability.

The substitute “explained that she witnessed Ms. Liberty step on (the child’s)

feet at least ‘twenty times’ during both days while she was wearing sneakers on

her feet,” making the student “visibly in pain,” a police report said.

Rego told police that a way to keep the child from removing his shoes was to “go

over to him and ‘tap his feet with their feet.’” The child’s mother told police

that the foot tapping was inappropriate because it was not part of the student’s

individual education plan. Rego was also accused of placing her fingers in a jar

of peanut butter before putting them in a child’s mouth as a form of punishment

because the child had eating issues.

In another incident, a paraprofessional said she saw Liberty “forcefully” grab a

student by the arm as he came out of a bathroom. Liberty said the child was

running so she put her arm up to stop him.

E-mail Grant Welker at gwelker@....