A 73-year-old Texas preschool teacher has been arrested on felony charges more than six months after she was accused of physically assaulting a 4-year-old Black child under her care, according to police.
Linda Ann Dueer, who is white, was charged with third-degree felony assault following the alleged attack on Nov. 3, 2023, at Princeton ISD’s Canup Early Childhood Center in Princeton, Texas, just north of Dallas.
The incident was captured on video surveillance, allegedly showing Dueer grab the small boy, slam him against a wall, and then slap the child nearly off his feet, family members said after viewing the disturbing footage.
The school did not immediately report the incident to police, allowing Dueer remain on the job for another six months before she was finally taken into custody on May 14.
Both parents said they thought the teacher would be arrested immediately, but then a few months went by where they didn’t hear anything about the case, so they called the Princeton Police Department for an update and were shocked to find that the school never brought it to their attention.
“Even the lieutenant was like, ‘I don’t understand why they didn’t contact us,’” Gregory Thomas said, according to CBS News Texas.
The Collin County School District confirmed that Dueer was placed on administrative leave the same day as her arrest, but officials did not indicate whether she is still receiving her regular pay, now more than two weeks later.
There was also no immediate indication that Dueer was ever reprimanded or suspended by the school over the incident, even after she was indicted on March 28.
The indictment accuses Dueer of causing physical injury to a child with intentional bodily injury.
A magistration hearing the day after her arrest set Dueer’s bond at $20,000 and she was released from jail pending trial.
The child’s parents, Gregory and Salam Thomas, sued the school district the same week, alleging school administrators never reported the abuse to police, while seeking unspecified damages for their son Aaron’s pain and suffering, which they said had left them crushed.
“I’m really shocked,” Salam Thomas told CBS News Texas. “I’m shocked. I do believe in the U.S. they need to do more to protect their children.”
“It breaks my heart to this day, knowing that I wasn’t there to protect my son,” Gregory Thomas told the news outlet.
The couple said Aaron hasn’t been his normal self since he started attending the school.
“It has changed him,” Gregory Thomas said about the incident. “He doesn’t like to sleep by himself. He feels afraid.”
Back in November, when the alleged abuse happened, the school notified the parents that their son had been locked outside during recess, adding that there was video of what happened, and requested them to come in person to view it.
The Thomases were not prepared for what they saw.
“She grabbed him and swung him around, up against the wall, said something to him. And then she slapped him, almost knocked him off his feet,” Gregory Thomas said. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe she did that.”
