ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: Mother of another special needs boy alleges abuse at Antioch school

Katie Marzullo Image
ByKatie Marzullo KGO logo
Saturday, January 9, 2016
EXCLUSIVE: Special needs boy's mom alleges abuse at Antioch school
A special needs school in the East Bay is facing legal action following multiple allegations of student abuse.

ANTIOCH, Calif. (KGO) -- A special needs school in the East Bay is now facing legal action following multiple allegations of student abuse. A video surfaced this week showing a teacher's aide abusing a student at a school in Antioch. Now, a mother of another student is coming forward, saying her son was abused.


VIDEO: Antioch school had history of 911 calls

Michele has asked that her young son not be identified, but she can describe vividly what he says happened to him at Tobinworld II in Antioch when he was 8-years-old.

"'My face is red, he bruised my face, slammed my head on the table' and my son made the gesture of slamming the head on the table," Michele said.

Michele took a picture of her son's bruised face, took him out of school and filed a police report. That was in 2014. Her attorney, Peter Alfert, has been investigating Tobinworld ever since.

"From everything I can tell, Tobinworld is a horrible place," Alfert said.

He found in 2013 the Livermore School District took all of its students out of Tobinworld after reports of abuse. Public records from Antioch police show between 2008 to 2014 there were 35 reported episodes of violence between staff and students.

"These children have communication problems. They cannot tell many of them what's happening to them or to other people. Somebody has to speak out for these children," Alfert said.

This week, a teacher's aide was caught on cellphone video hitting a 9-year-old student. Kamaljot Kaur, 26, was arrested for felony abuse. She's now out on bail.

Michele has seen the video.

VIDEO: Teacher's aide at Antioch school accused of child abuse

"I thought, oh my God, my son must have gone through the same thing," Michele said. "Not only my son, the other kids in the classroom. It makes me outraged."

In a statement, Tobinworld's founder says, "We are horrified by the recent event at our Tobinworld II campus and will not tolerate the mistreatment or abuse of any child."

Michele's attorney plans to file their lawsuit against Tobinworld and the Antioch School District no later than March.