Palm Bay teacher allegedly dragged disabled student and sat astride her before locking her in the bathroom

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PALM BAY, Florida. – A Sunrise Elementary School teacher was arrested Thursday after an investigation revealed she allegedly dragged a disabled student, straddled her and then locked her in a bathroom for at least eight minutes, police said.

Palm Bay police have arrested Beatriz Rapisarda, who is now charged with child abuse without serious bodily harm and false imprisonment of a child under 13. The 41-year-old teacher has since been placed on leave pending the police investigation, a Brevard County Schools spokesperson told FOX 35.

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The alleged incident occurred in Sunrise Elementary School's intellectually disabled class and sparked an investigation. The class has about 13 students ranging in age from kindergarten to sixth grade, police said.

Police found that Rapisarda “physically pushed the student and held him by the wrists” in front of several witnesses, and an affidavit said the student “was under-challenged and spoke very little.”

The arrest affidavit also sheds more light on the incident. Witnesses said they saw Rapisarda allegedly push the student “at least twice,” grab her wrist, and “pull her up.” In addition, police said the teacher “climbed on top of the student, straddled her while the student was on her back, and pinned her arms to the ground.”

Rapisarda then allegedly “dragged” the student to the toilet, which Rapisarda used as a “form of punishment,” according to a police affidavit.

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Witnesses also described an incident the day before in which Rapisarda allegedly locked the student in the bathroom for about eight to ten minutes after dragging her through the classroom while screaming and kicking her.

“The student attempted to crawl away, at which point the teacher pulled her behind her back to the restroom by both wrists and held the bathroom door almost completely shut while the student banged on it in an attempt to exit the restroom,” the affidavit continued. “The teacher also held her arm on the door to prevent the student from exiting the restroom. … The witnesses stated that this action was so shocking that one of them left the classroom and notified his supervisor.”

In another incident on Tuesday, Rapisarda allegedly “wrapped” the student in a Styrofoam mat “burrito style” and held her there for about five to seven minutes, the affidavit states.

All witnesses interviewed by police said Rapisarda's behavior was “unacceptable” and “aggressive” and described her as “very controlling.”

“The witnesses also stated that the teacher had a toilet plan for all [students with disabilities] and she has forbidden them from using the restroom if they do not go at the scheduled time,” the affidavit continues.

Rapisarda was taken into custody at the school on Thursday and booked into the Brevard County Jail, where she remains held without bail.

Palm Bay Police issued the following statement regarding the incident:

The Palm Bay Police Department is committed to the safety of those in our community, especially our youth. We will continue to work closely with the school and our partners in the Department of Children and Families to ensure incidents like this do not occur again.

This is an evolving story.