Following an investigation by the police, three workers at an elementary school in Delaware have been arrested on charges of abusing children in a classroom for kids with special needs.
In a statement released last week, the Smyrna Police Department said that Ms. Lomax (31), Ms. Johnson (26), and Ms. Donahue (21), all from Clayton, have been charged with endangering the safety of a child. Lomax has also been charged with touching a kid inappropriately and child abuse in the third degree.
The Smyrna Elementary School school district says that police began looking into abuse claims in February 2024.
Several claims of abuse are made in “hot sauce and hot takis”
Police say that their investigation showed that workers in the classroom for students with special needs would “allegedly throw objects at the students, yell at them, and call them names.”
One student was also hit in the face by Lomax, and the student was sprayed with water from a water bottle “as a form of discipline.”
In a different incident from an unknown date in the fall of 2022, the police report said that Johnson and Donahue fed “hot sauce and hot Takis to a special needs student who had a known digestive disorder.”
Last week, the Delaware News Journal said that, but a website for Smyrna District staff salaries showed:
It said that Donahue was a temporary elementary school teacher in 2023.
In 2022 and up until now, Lomax has worked as a paraeducator and substitute teacher.
From 2020 until recently, Johnson worked as an elementary specialist, a substitute elementary school teacher, and an educational paraeducator, among other jobs.
Police say that Johnson was charged with 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Lomax with 9 counts of endangering the welfare of a child, as well as 1 count of third-degree child abuse and 1 count of offensive touching. Donahue was charged with 1 count of endangering the welfare of a child.
The first court dates for Lomax and Johnson are both set for November 15, while Donahue’s appearance is set for December 19.
As of November 11, it wasn’t clear if any of the three accused had pleaded guilty or hired lawyers.
“The relevant employees have not been in the presence of our students since the district was made aware of the alleged wrongdoing,” the Smyrna School District said in a statement on November 6. “The people who are said to have been involved no longer work for the District.” The District will respect the privacy rights of the remaining workers when they are let go from their jobs, and we will send our reports to the Division of Licensure and Certification in the Department of Education.
Source: Delaware school workers charged with abusing special needs students
