Lompoc school district employee arrested for reportedly hurting special needs child
A Lompoc Unified School District employee is in jail after authorities say he physically abused a 10-year-old special needs child on a school bus.
The parents of the child reported the incident to the school district after the child came home on Oct. 16, 2018, crying and told his parents that he had been hurt by an aide on the bus, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
Video surveillance from the bus was shared with the parents and showed 52-year-old Santa Maria resident Arthur Carlos using excessive force to restrain the child, including putting his hands around his neck and pushing his head against the bus window, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The parents reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Office who quickly launched an investigation and worked with school officials to gather employee training details, witness/employee information and a copy of the bus surveillance video.
Authorities say investigators determined Carlos “willfully inflicted inhuman corporal punishment upon the special needs victim.” Carlos was arrested after voluntarily going to the Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 25 and giving a statement to detectives.
He was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail for corporal injury upon a child. Carlos is being held on $50,000 bail.
–UPDATE–
The Lompoc Bus driver accused of hurting a special needs child appeared was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and misdemeanor unlawful corporal punishment. Arthur Carlos was in court on Tuesday for his arraignment, but it was continued to November 27, 2018.
