Kansas school employee locked teen with Down syndrome in closet, storage cage, lawsuit says
CBSN
A paraeducator of a rural Kansas school district repeatedly shoved a teenager with Down syndrome into a utility closet, hit the boy and once photographed him locked in a cage used to store athletic equipment, a lawsuit claims.
The suit filed Friday in federal court said the paraprofessional assigned to the 15-year-old sent the photo to staff in the Kaw Valley district, comparing the teen to an animal and "making light of his serious, demeaning and discriminatory conduct."
The teen's parents alleged in the suit that the paraprofessional did not have a key to the cage where sports equipment was kept and had to enlist help from other district staff to open the door and release their son, who is identified in the complaint only by his initials. The suit, which includes the photo, said it was not clear how long the teen was locked in the cage.
