While special education teacher Michelle Campbell awaits trial for seven felony counts, the families of her alleged victims aren't waiting for justice.
They've already filed a $50 million civil lawsuit against Campbell and the New Britain Board of Education. It says Campbell physically, emotionally and psychologically abused some of the autistic students in her care.
"They should have known something was going on. There were enough red flags for them to pay a little more attention to what was going on in that classroom," said Arelis Kinard, whose son was one of Campbell's alleged victims.
Kinard says her son was abused while he was attending Chamberlain Elementary School last year.
"There were things like yelling directly into their ears. There was an incident of body slamming. There's incidences of what I call water boarding," she said.
She says the school district did nothing to remedy the situation. It was the Department of Children and Families and police who investigated the allegations. She thinks the district tried to sweep the problem under the rug.
"He's there to learn and to teach him appropriate behavior and be in a safe learning environment, and instead he ended up being in a classroom where despite the fact there were adults in the room, he was being abused and no one was reporting it," said Kinard.
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Kinard said Campbell is still in the school system, working in some capacity at the high school.
No one from the school district was available for comment.
