Suspicious Mom Hides Recording Device In Autistic Daughter’s Hair And Catches Teachers Viciously Abusing Her

A teacher and two classroom aides were arrested after a student’s mother hid a recording device in her daughter’s hair, filming the adults allegedly verbally abusing not just her daughter but other students in their care as well.

According to CNN, Amber Pack, of Berkley County, West Virginia became concerned when her daughter, who has autism, came home with strange bruises. So she decided to act on her suspicions and uncovered some seriously disturbing evidence. Pack’s daughter, Adri, is nonverbal, so she was unable to communicate what was happening to her and other kids at school.

That’s when her mom decided to take matters into her own hands.

When the 6-year-old began crying on the bus ride home and indicated that she did not want to go to school, Pack knew that something wasn’t right, but she had no idea what it was. Then, in October, she noticed bruises on her daughter after she returned home one day from Berkeley Heights Elementary — bruises that her lawyer, Ben Salango, later said appeared to be pressure marks from someone grabbing Adri tightly.




Suspicious that something was going on at her school, but unable to ask her daughter directly, Pack decided to buy a recording device. On October 5, she hid it in her daughter’s hair bun and sent her off to school, according to People.

“When she came back, she was just horrified and could not believe what she heard,” Salango said.

During the eight-hour recording, Pack heard Adri’s teacher, Christina Lester, as well as two teaching aides, Kristin Douty and June Yurish, allegedly threatening students.

The recording reportedly captured some shocking verbal abuse, along with threats to withhold food if the students did not behave. The mom also heard the teachers say things such as, “I ought to backhand you right in your teeth. How is that for anxiety?” and “This one I could punch her right in her face.”

“I’m going to pull your hair until you start crying,” one said at another point.

In one portion of the tape, an adult said to a student:

“You got to go pee-pee? Pee-pee? Or do you not have to go pee-pee and you just want to go [expletive] in a chair?”

Pack said she was horrified when she heard the recording.

“I couldn’t eat for three days,” she told WJLA. “My stomach. I was so upset. Every time I looked at her I would start crying.”

The mom then took her case to the police, who called the school principal, and together, they listened to the gut-wrenching audio.

The teachers reportedly told police that they had not been speaking to the children during the recordings, but instead talking to each other. However, Pack and her attorney are not buying their defense.

“To make matters worse, the deputy superintendent called the principal to tell Pack to destroy the file,” Salango alleged. “It’s in writing.”

But, Pack wasn’t about to allow the evidence of her daughter’s abuse just disappear from existence. After prosecutors failed to press charges, the mom took her evidence to social media and shared the audio recordings on her Facebook page, where more than 10 million people heard it within the first 24 hours.




Soon after the footage went viral, the attorney general filed a civil lawsuit against the teachers for verbally abusing their students. And in May, the lawsuit was also extended to include Principal Amber Boeckmann and Berkeley County Deputy Superintendent Margaret F. Kursey, who are said to have  “actively tried to hinder the investigation and obscure evidence with a flawed investigation, an order to destroy the recording and a failure to report the matter to Child Protective Services.” The lawsuit also added the Berkely County Board of Education.

Last Friday, all three teachers were arrested on charges of misdemeanor failure to report abuse or neglect.

“These arrests send a strong message — that child abuse will not be tolerated and must be reported,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement. “We must continue working to ensure vulnerable children are protected, especially at school.”

As for Adri, her mother has since moved her to a new school that provides “a very loving environment,” and according to the family attorney, she’s thriving.

The Pack family and I are relieved that criminal charges were brought,” Salango continued. “None of us ever lost hope in the system. We truly believe the system works even if it is slow at times and we’re very happy that the prosecutor decided to charge [these] three people.”

What do you make of this story? If you were the judge, what would your sentence be for those held accountable? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and be sure to share this story with your friends and family.

Source: Cafemom.com