An East Texas teacher has been arrested for injuring a young student earlier this month.
Kyle Lee Rocha, 39, was arrested for injury to a child at Chandler Elementary School in Brownsboro Independent School District.
According to his probable cause affidavit, Rocha was in a classroom for students with behavioral challenges on September 13. The affidavit describes footage from the classroom which showed Rocha picking up paperwork from the floor and placing it on the student’s desk, while telling the student to keep the paper on his desk.
The situation escalated when the student was allegedly seen throwing the paperwork in a clothes basket on his desk and rocking his desk backwards several times while Rocha stood in front of him. Rocha allegedly “placed both of his hands onto the front of the desk and push[ed] the desk backwards, purposefully causing the desk to fall over.” The student fell, hitting the back of his head and elbows against the desk behind him.
Authorities received photographs of the injuries on the child, including redness and a knot on the back of his skull. Both of the student’s elbows showed two small red marks or cuts with redness and bruising.
The same day the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office was called to assist with investigating the teacher’s alleged abuse, Rocha was arrested and booked into the Henderson County Jail on a $25,000 bond. He posted bail the same day and was released.
Brownsboro ISD has since confirmed that Rocha is no longer employed with the district.
“Providing a safe and caring educational environment for our children is Brownsboro ISD’s first priority,” a district official said in a statement. “Upon being made aware of potential concerns, we launched a thorough investigation and the employee is no longer employed with the district. The appropriate parties were notified immediately, including law enforcement, Child Protective Services, Henderson County Crimes Against Children and the Texas Education Agency. Due to confidentiality laws, any further questions should be directed to these agencies.”
State records show that Rocha’s teaching certificate is still valid, but he is currently under review by the Texas Education Agency Investigations Division.
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