Abuse of students incidents in Texas

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Horrifying classroom video captured two Texas teachers abusing a 5-year-old student with autism, breaking the boy’s foot, and his outraged mother is calling for the educators’ arrest.

Guadalupe Rodriguez’s non-verbal son was inside Wild Peach Elementary School in Brazoria when he was picked up and harshly dropped on the floor, according to video obtained by KHOU.

The boy landed on his feet before falling onto his back as he crawled away from the unidentified adult.

Rodriguez was left traumatized by the video but demanded to see additional footage from Oct. 30, the day her son broke his foot.

“This is trauma that my son and I will carry forever,” Rodriguez told the outlet. “I dropped to my knees and cried, because I didn’t expect to see that. I wasn’t expecting to see my son be treated in such a manner.”

The additional footage captured a wider range of possible abuse from multiple teachers tasked with working with the student.

The same educator had picked up the boy an hour earlier and dropped him to the floor before pushing him down and walking away, video from inside a classroom captured.

Another teacher was seen carrying the boy outside, trying to get him to walk on his “hurt” foot when she began to kick his ailing ankle.

The school district, 60 miles south of Houston, sent an email to parents announcing the firings and that the incident was reported to several agencies including the Family and Protective Services.

Now that the parents of the student have met with administration, I am writing to inform you that a campus investigation involving a student injury at Wild Peach Elementary is still in progress. At current, the investigation has determined two educational support staff members acted inappropriately by not following the provided training and guidance,” principal Anne Cohea wrote in the letter sent on Nov. 7, and obtained by KHOU.

A former Waco elementary school teacher was arrested Tuesday on allegations she used an electronic dog whistle to force compliance by a 6-year-old autistic student.

Amber Escamilla, 46, a former teacher at Bell’s Hill Elementary School, 2100 Ross Ave., remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $3,000 bond after her arrest on an injury to a child or disabled person charge, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

According to arrest records, Waco Independent School District police detectives received a referral from Child Protective Service workers about possible abuse of an autistic student by Escamilla.

The report said Escamilla, a 10-year teaching veteran who moved to Waco with her family last year, used an electronic dog whistle “on the child when he got overstimulated,” an arrest affidavit alleges. Detectives met with the boy’s parents, who said they provided earmuffs for him to wear at school because he is sensitive to sounds.

“The victim’s mother described how the beginning of last year, the victim would come home and cry about going to school because the fire alarms would hurt his ears,” the affidavit states.

Detectives met April 23 with the school principal, who told them she confiscated an electronic whistle from Escamilla in November 2024.

“A staff member was interviewed who advised that around November 2024, the defendant came into the break room and placed a device on the table, telling co-workers that she had this for when the victim ‘gets loud,’ stating that when she clicks it, he stops,” according to arrest documents.

The affidavit alleges Escamilla told detectives earlier this month that she bought the whistle “for the purpose of outside playground use, using it only one time on the playground.”

The defendant advised that she would only exhibit the whistle to the victim as a threat to gain compliance,” according to the affidavit. “On Monday, April 28, 2025, (the detective) met with a witness who provided a voluntary sworn statement that around the end of September 2024, she entered the defendant’s classroom and observed the defendant utilizing the electronic whistle to gain compliance of the victim.

“The witness observed the child covering his ears and pleading for the defendant to stop. The defendant utilized the whistle a second time in which the victim responded in the same way. The witness advised that the child is sensitive to sound and was visibly in pain from the defendant using the whistle,” the affidavit alleges.

Waco ISD spokeswoman Wendy Sledd said Escamilla is no longer employed with the district and worked there less than a year.