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Annette Melvina Bouldin was found guilty of second-degree assault for her involvement in an incident last September while she was a paraeducator assisting in the Academic Life Skills dance class at Mount Hebron High School
An Alford Plea is a type of guilty plea in which the defendant does not admit to committing the crime but agrees that the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction.
According to prosecutors, the class had students with special needs matched with other peer students, and as paraeducators and student assistances were monitoring the activity in the class, Bouldin went to assist a student learning a new dance move.
"During the excitement, one of his hands accidentally swiped against Bouldin’s eye," they said. "Peer students, a paraeducator and two student assistances then watched Bouldin as she took a few seconds to reflect before she took two steps toward and punched the student with a closed fist."
The incident was immediately reported to school administrators, and Child Protective Services was alerted to the incident.
Officials said that the non-verbal student was assessed by the school nurse and returned to his classes with a red bump to his forehead.
The court ordered the guilty finding to stand, and placed Bouldin on one year of supervised probation, and ordered that she not seek employment with minors or anyone with a disability.
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