NAPLES - A former special education teacher could face up to 30 years in prison on charges that she tied two 3-year-old boys with learning disabilities to chairs.
Defense attorney Robert J. Coleman said he was "outraged" that the state upgraded simple child abuse charges filed in May. He said the children were never tied to their chairs.
Szempruch resigned a year ago as a prekindergarten teacher of students with learning disabilities at Avalon Elementary School.
On Nov. 5, 2002, authorities say, she tied one child to his chair with a jump rope and another with an apron. One child fell backward and was left on the floor, according to a report written by school district investigator Peter DeBaun.
The next day she tied up both children again with string and put tape on one child's mouth, the report said. He cried and pulled off the tape, but Szempruch put the tape back on, the report says.
Coleman said the allegations are not true.
He said Szempruch was trying to teach the children how to sit still in class and loosely placed a jump rope over one child's lap and an apron across another child. The ties were not secured, he said.
Szempruch had taught in Collier County schools for 16 years. Her trial is set for Jan. 16.
