Florida teacher uses legs to put 3-year-old in headlock during storytime, deputies say

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) - A Florida teacher was arrested Saturday after she allegedly used her legs to put a 3-year-old boy with autism in a headlock during class.

Vilma Otero, 59, is facing child abuse charges after a paraeducator assigned to her classroom witnessed the incident unfold and filed a report with the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), an arrest affidavit said.

The paraeducator in Otero's classroom at Forest Lake Elementary told Volusia County deputies she was setting up an activity during the children's storytime when she heard a child "start to scream and cry" from the other side of the room.

When the paraeducator turned around, she saw Otero sitting in a chair with the 3-year-old between her legs in a "chokehold." According to the report, the boy's face was turning red from crying and screaming as he tried to free himself.

Deputies said the paraeducator took photos of the incident, which showed "Otero's legs and feet placed on both sides of [the child's] neck appearing to hold him in place on his back, while Otero continues reading to other children in the classroom."

According to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office, deputies later spoke with the child's family and the toddler after receiving the DCF report.

Since the boy is so young and also has autism, authorities weren't able to communicate much with him. However, the affidavit showed he was able to tell deputies he "got in trouble at school" and said, "She hurt me."

While speaking with the toddler, deputies also noticed slight redness on his neck.

After speaking with the boy's family, deputies arrived at Otero's home, where she told officials she has been a teacher for 36 years with the "majority of her experience working with special needs children," the affidavit said.

She also told deputies she had received specialized training for teaching children with special needs, adding that the most common practice was to move the child to a different room when they needed to calm down.

According to the arrest report, the 59-year-old teacher denied physically restraining the child in the way the paraeducator described even after deputies showed her photos that the paraeducator provided.

Due to deputies observing physical marks on the boy's neck and being told by the paraeducator that the child tried to escape the position he was put in, the sheriff's office said there was probable cause to arrest Otero.

Otero faces a felony charge of child abuse without great bodily harm.