ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — It was a shocking assault on a special needs child: an Ann Arbor school bus aide caught on camera slapping a second grader in a restraint harness.
On Wednesday, a judge called that former bus aide’s actions inexcusable and sent her to jail.
The video of a 7-year-old boy in a restraint harness screaming for help as a bus aide slaps him several times is hard to forget. His mother, Jaime Nelson, says Ann Arbor Public Schools wouldn’t tell her about the assault on her special needs son for five weeks.
After Nelson demanded answers from Carpenter Elementary and other school district staff, 48-year-old Rochanda Jefferson was eventually let go from her bus aide job, arrested and later convicted of fourth degree child abuse.
Wednesday afternoon, Nelson got to tell Judge J. Cedric Simpson how Jefferson’s assault on her autistic child changed their lives forever.
“As a fourth generation public educator, I’m now scared to send my son to school. His faith has been destroyed by Ms. Jefferson. School is supposed to be a safe haven for children, and Ms. Jefferson took that sense of security,” Nelson told the court. “I’ve devoted my life to provide for the safety of thousands of students in our public school system, she couldn’t take care of my one [student].”
Jefferson apologized in court, but her comments fell short with the judge and her victims.
“I would like to apologize to Ms. Jaime or whatever... you know, the harm I did... whatever,” said Jefferson.
“You have no remorse, you have no understanding for what you’ve done,” said Judge Simpson.
Jefferson asked the judge not to give her the 15 days in jail that the probation department recommended for her misdemeanor conviction.
“If I do the 15 days, I’m probably going to lose my job now,” said Jefferson.
“I don’t really care if you lose your job. I really don’t. Because what you did to that child that day – what you did to someone’s baby that day – in my mind is inexcusable. Any harm that any jail time imposed on you causes doesn’t even compare to the harm you caused that child that day,” said Judge Simpson.
The Judge then doubled her sentence to 30 days in the Washtenaw County Jail along with five years of probation, 100 hours of community service and other requirements. If she violates her probation, she will have to serve a year in jail.
As deputies took Jefferson into custody, Nelson told us she’s been overwhelmed with the support she’s received after her son’s story sparked outrage around the country. But she says more work needs to be done in Ann Arbor schools and beyond.
“The change still needs to come, but the fact that the dialogue is beginning makes me feel like there’s a little worth to this miserable experience,” Nelson told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
The principal of the elementary school has been placed on leave.
At 7:00 pm Wednesday, the Ann Arbor School Board will be meeting to vote on their separation agreement with the district’s superintendent, Dr. Jeanice Kerr Swift. Board members have said this incident is one of many factors for their reasons to part ways with the Swift.
