TYLER, Texas (KLTV/Gray News) – Three former employees of a Texas school district are facing charges after allegedly forcing a student with special needs to walk in circles for hours with his hands taped behind his back.
Krystina Renea Haas, 35, June Tryon, 57, and Prisicilla Gutierrez, 22, were arrested Friday by Tyler Independent School District police on charges of injury to child/disabled person.
According to arrest documents obtained by KLTV, the charges come from video evidence of the abuse from inside a classroom at Tyler High School on March 12.
The documents say Haas, the primary teacher for the Tyler High School classroom, was the main antagonist in the abuse.
Video showed Haas forcing the student with Down syndrome to walk in circles around the room for hours and later taping his hands together.
Tryon and Gutierrez were reportedly seen helping Haas with the taping and did not try to help the student.
The video shows the student being forced to walk in circles from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., until Haas was seen getting “right up in his face” and yelling at him. Then, his hands were tied with packing tape, and he was forced to continue walking in circles for another 30 minutes. He then was made to stand against a wall for more than two hours. Video shows the teacher finally removing the tape from his hands at 3:48 p.m. when the student was dismissed for the day.
During all this time, the video reportedly showed Haas cursing and yelling at the student, Tryon speaking to him in a “demeaning” manner, and Gutierrez crocheting at her desk.
In later interviews with police, Tryon and Gutierrez admitted to witnessing, assisting in and not attempting to prevent Haas’ abuse of the student, the documents say. In Haas’ interview, she reportedly told investigators that she was angered by the student, who she claimed made rude gestures and comments to her. The report says she was aware that the student has Down syndrome.
The three former employees were arrested Friday and booked into the Smith County Jail. Haas’ bond is $300,000, and Tryon and Gutierrez’ bonds are $150,000.
The district shared the following statement, confirming that the women are no longer district employees:
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