Inset: Marsha Ernest (St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office). Background: The elementary school where Ernest allegedly threw a 6-year-old (Google Maps).
A 44-year-old paraprofessional at an elementary school in Louisiana is facing accusations of assaulting a 6-year-old student with special needs, in an incident allegedly caught on camera. The child, who suffers from seizures, was reportedly attacked in the classroom.
Marsha Ernest was arrested last month and charged with simple battery of the infirm following the alleged incident at E.E. Lyon Elementary School in Covington, located roughly 40 miles north of New Orleans.
The Covington Police Department launched an investigation after receiving a call about the incident at the school on March 12, as reported by The Advocate. Details were initially scarce, but the child’s family later confirmed that police had reviewed video footage from the classroom that led to the arrest.
According to New Orleans Fox affiliate WVUE, the family of the child, who is enrolled in a special education program and has epilepsy, shared their account of the situation. They claimed the video showed Ernest forcefully placing the girl into a chair and holding her wrists down on a desk.
The girl’s mother was first alerted to the situation by her daughter’s teacher, according to a report by New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU. The mother then raised the issue with school officials, and the police subsequently contacted her after examining the video evidence.
The girl’s mother said she first learned something was wrong when her daughter’s teacher alerted her, according to New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU. She brought the concern to school administrators, and police contacted her after reviewing the video.
That is when she decided to press charges.
“You trust that when you send your child to school, they will be safe. That trust was broken,” the child’s parents said in a statement to WVUE. “Our daughter has epilepsy and is in special education. She depends on the adults around her for protection, care, and understanding. Instead, she was put in harm’s way.”
They added: “When a child — especially a vulnerable child — has been hurt, there should be immediate action. That did not happen.”
Authorities have not publicly detailed the contents of the video or the full sequence of events.
In a statement to WDSU, Deputy Police Chief Kevin Collins confirmed only that an employee at the school was arrested in connection with an on-campus incident and said the department is withholding further details to protect the integrity of the case.
School district officials acknowledged they are aware of the investigation but declined to discuss Ernest’s employment status, citing personnel confidentiality.
The child’s family said they have since removed her from the school.
“Our daughter is innocent. She is vulnerable. She deserved to be protected,” the parents said. “We are speaking out because this cannot happen again — not to our child, not to anyone else’s.”
Ernest was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail. Court records show she posted a $5,000 bond and was released on March 16. She is scheduled to appear in court again on June 24.
The case comes several weeks after a new Louisiana law took effect requiring cameras in special education classrooms, along with additional training for school staff and tighter restrictions on the use of physical restraint and solitary punishments.
