'Mommy and daddy … don't want you': Preschool teacher 'screamed at, belittled and manhandled' 4-year-old girl and threatened to lock her in 'dungeon,' suit says

A Texas preschool teacher repeatedly "screamed at, belittled and manhandled" a 4-year-old girl successful her attraction — telling her, "Your mommy and daddy … don't privation you" — portion threatening to nonstop the youngster "to jail," a suit says.

"You're going to beryllium locked successful the dungeon," the teacher said, according to a ineligible ailment filed by parents Patrick Killingsworth and Mellissa Killingsworth, who assertion the pedagogue tormented their girl portion she was attending preschool astatine Trinity Lutheran School and Early Childhood Center, which is simply a backstage schoolhouse located successful San Angelo.

"[The girl] was subjected to continuous yelling, screaming, ridiculing, belittling, shoving, pushing, yanking, dragging, and hitting — changing her forever," the ailment charges.

The Killingsworths accidental their girl was "caught connected camera" being dragged crossed her schoolroom by the teacher, who is not identified successful the complaint, and the pedagogue was besides seen "locking her unsocial successful a acheronian closet," according to a connection provided to Law&Crime by the parents' ineligible team, The Button Law Firm.

"In addition, the suit states the teacher threatened to telephone the constabulary connected the preschooler and told her that her parents wanted her to spell to jail," the connection says. "Every incidental was captured connected the school's surveillance cameras."

According to the complaint, the teacher was caught connected video "screaming" astatine the miss and "belittling" her successful beforehand of different kids.

"You are not going to kindergarten," the teacher allegedly said. "You are a baby! You request help! You can't bash anything!"

The teacher allegedly added, "She got thing incorrect successful her brain. … You adjacent poop each implicit my bath but doesn't cognize however to perceive to anything! So embarrassing … You are truthful embarrassing. You are truthful embarrassing. Everybody look astatine [the girl], however embarrassing. Aw, truthful embarrassing. All of your friends are looking astatine you. Like you are truthful embarrassing. Get it together."

The kid was seen "crying, asking for her mommy and daddy," portion the teacher continued to "mock her," according to the complaint. The teacher got 1 of the kids successful her people to articulation successful "on the taunting," the papers alleges.

"You're gonna get locked successful the dungeon!" the pupil allegedly yelled.

Describing however she was threatening to telephone the cops connected the kid and pretending to dial 911 connected her cellphone, the teacher allegedly said, "Guess what? I'm going to telephone the police. And you're going to spell to jail. Yea! You request to get locked up and spell acold distant from your household and from each of your friends and you request to spell to jail. You request to spell to jail. … You are truthful bad."

According to the complaint, the teacher was besides caught connected camera saying the following:

Oh! Guess what? Your mommy and daddy are truthful bushed of however you enactment that they don't privation you astatine location either. They don't privation you. They privation you at… they privation you to spell to jail, excessively due to the fact that you don't listen!

Your mommy and daddy are not astatine jail. They are not astatine jail. You won't ever spot them. You'll beryllium astatine the jail. Cry astir it.

And conjecture what? Shhhhhh…. Guess what successful jail?

You deliberation determination are a clump of small kids similar your property successful jail?

NO! Guess who they each are?

They're large grown-up scary radical successful jail!

And you're going to beryllium the lone teeny tiny small babe successful the full jail!"

The girl's parents are suing Trinity Lutheran School and its administrators, claiming they "chose not to intervene oregon preserve" footage of the alleged torment. Text messages cited successful the ailment accidental Trinity Lutheran School's manager and main received much than 4 months of "explicit warnings" from the teacher that she was "approaching a intelligence wellness breakdown," including 1 successful which she called a "meltdown astatine work" her "worst nightmare."

The school's effect was "to proceed having the teacher travel into enactment and sending her backmost to her schoolroom — prioritizing staffing implicit kid safety," according to the parents' lawyers. School leaders allegedly "failed to intervene astatine each step, adjacent aft the manager watched recorded footage of the maltreatment the time it happened," the instrumentality firm's connection says.

"Trinity Lutheran School's enactment ignored authorities childcare laws and failed to halt a 4-year-old miss and her preschool classmates from being terrorized by a teacher portion nether the school's watch," says daycare wounded lawyer Russell Button. "This is what happens erstwhile a schoolhouse prioritizes its staffing docket implicit a child's safety, past tries to hide the information alternatively of owning up to their aggregate failures that broke the law."

When reached by Law&Crime on Tuesday astir the lawsuit, Trinity Lutheran School said its leaders were unavailable to comment.