Inset: Marsha Ernest (St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office). Background: The elementary school where Ernest allegedly threw a 6-year-old (Google Maps).
A 44-year-old elementary school paraprofessional in Louisiana is accused of battering a seizure-prone 6-year-old student with special needs in a classroom attack that authorities say was captured on video.
Marsha Ernest was taken into custody last month and charged with one count of simple battery of the infirm in connection with the alleged incident that took place at E.E. Lyon Elementary School in Covington. The school is about 40 miles north of New Orleans.
The investigation began when the Covington Police Department on March 12 responded to a call for service regarding an incident at the school, The Advocate reported.
While police initially declined to release details, the child’s family later said officers reviewed classroom video that showed what happened and prompted the arrest.
The child’s parents spoke to New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE about the ordeal, telling the station that the alleged victim is a 6-year-old girl with epilepsy enrolled in a special education program. They further told the station that the footage reviewed by investigators showed Ernest throwing the child into a chair and pinning her wrists to a desk.
The girl’s mother said she first learned something was wrong when her daughter’s teacher alerted her, according to New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU. She brought the concern to school administrators, and police contacted her after reviewing the video.
That is when she decided to press charges.
“You trust that when you send your child to school, they will be safe. That trust was broken,” the child’s parents said in a statement to WVUE. “Our daughter has epilepsy and is in special education. She depends on the adults around her for protection, care, and understanding. Instead, she was put in harm’s way.”
They added: “When a child — especially a vulnerable child — has been hurt, there should be immediate action. That did not happen.”
Authorities have not publicly detailed the contents of the video or the full sequence of events.
In a statement to WDSU, Deputy Police Chief Kevin Collins confirmed only that an employee at the school was arrested in connection with an on-campus incident and said the department is withholding further details to protect the integrity of the case.
School district officials acknowledged they are aware of the investigation but declined to discuss Ernest’s employment status, citing personnel confidentiality.
The child’s family said they have since removed her from the school.
“Our daughter is innocent. She is vulnerable. She deserved to be protected,” the parents said. “We are speaking out because this cannot happen again — not to our child, not to anyone else’s.”
Ernest was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail. Court records show she posted a $5,000 bond and was released on March 16. She is scheduled to appear in court again on June 24.
The case comes several weeks after a new Louisiana law took effect requiring cameras in special education classrooms, along with additional training for school staff and tighter restrictions on the use of physical restraint and solitary punishments.
