SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — A Sumter County mother is angry after she says her son with autism was abused by a teacher at Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School.
Stephanie Arnott is facing child abuse charges after an arrest report claimed another teacher witnessed her handling students in an inappropriate and abusive manner.
According to the report, the incident unfolded on April 21.
Kimberly Smart said her son, Matthew, came home from school scared, and that’s when she knew something wasn’t right.
“I’m angry, upset, everything — just all of it,” Smart said.
Smart said she’s trying to understand how someone could have possibly hurt her little boy in a place she sends him daily and where he’s supposed to be safe.
“This teacher doesn’t deserve to be around children anymore. She deserves to be punished,” Smart added.
Smart said 40-year-old Stephanie Arnott was a substitute teacher in her son’s special needs classroom. Her son has autism. An arrest report stated that a teacher witnessed Arnott grabbing a five-year old’s head and forcefully turning it towards a TV last Monday morning. In another instance later that day, the report noted a teacher heard a student “screaming bloody murder.”
“I know there was bruises all up his arms and handprints on his arms. I think she was shaking him and stuff cause he had handprints and bruises all up his arms,” Smart said.
The report stated that the teacher saw a special needs student wrapped tightly in a blanket and Arnott pushing the child’s face. Smart said the actions are intolerable. She said her son is now dealing with nightmares and not sleeping at night, all from what she says he endured from abuse at school.
“He don’t like people now and he’s afraid of us, he doesn’t like us touching him very much or anything. He backs up from you and everything,” Smart said.
Sumter District Schools shared a statement on social media saying, in part, “We are deeply disturbed by the arrest of one of our (now former) employees. We want to assure our families and community that we are committed to maintaining a safe and nurturing environment in every school.”
Smart said she believes it’s still a good school. She encourages parents to fight for their special needs children.
“All mothers should keep an eye on their autistic children. Keep an eye out, call the school every day and see how they’re doing and everything. Just like I do with him, I keep up with him every single day,” Smart said.
Arnott was booked into Sumter County Detention Center on April 24 and has since bonded out of jail.
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