A Cuban woman employed as a teacher's aide was taken into custody this Monday after being caught on surveillance footage assaulting a six-year-old autistic boy at a daycare in Miami. According to Miami police, 52-year-old Marlene Carballo was terminated from her position at the Interamerican Learning Center, located at 1521 NW 28th St. in the Allapattah neighborhood, prior to her arrest.
Carballo, a resident of Little Havana, is facing a child abuse charge, as confirmed by Miami Police Department Captain Freddy Cruz to Telemundo 51. Surveillance footage captured shortly before 1 p.m. on Monday shows Carballo attempting to force the child to sit in a chair by "pushing him by the shoulders multiple times and tapping his ear."
Details of the Incident
An arrest report indicates that the video also captured Carballo pulling the boy by the arm, making him sit on the floor, and then sitting behind him, wrapping her legs around him to prevent movement. "While restraining the victim with her legs, Carballo struck him three times with her right hand and once with her left," reported Local 10. She then grabbed the boy's wrist, forcing him to hit himself approximately ten times.
Police stated that Carballo subsequently stood up, dragged the child, pushed him "against a cabinet," and struck him again. At that moment, the boy's therapist intervened after witnessing the incident.
Immediate Actions Taken
The therapist, holding the child, entered the daycare director's office in tears, urging her to "get rid of that teacher." Upon being asked what happened, she directed the director to check the surveillance footage. After reviewing the footage, the daycare director summoned Carballo to her office and terminated her employment.
Upon her arrest, Carballo claimed she was merely "holding" the child to prevent him from hitting her. Even when confronted with the video evidence, she initially denied any wrongdoing but eventually confessed to the abuse. Carballo was transported to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center (TGK) and was released after posting a $3,000 bond.
Daycare Center's Response
"One of our newly hired employees was observed physically abusing a child at our elementary school. The incident was witnessed by several therapists working in the classroom at the time, who reported it to the director," stated the daycare administration. The daycare confirmed that the child is physically unharmed and has since returned to the center, where Carballo had worked for only nine days.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident involving a Cuban individual in recent weeks. In late September, Deysi Acosta, a 54-year-old Cuban woman, was arrested for allegedly physically abusing an 11-month-old baby at a daycare she owned in Naples, Collier County. The arrest occurred after the victim's mother provided the Sheriff's Office with footage of the abuse, recorded by another family whose daughter also attended the daycare.