Florida teacher arrested for allegedly putting a three-year-old autistic student in a headlock

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Florida. – A teacher in Florida is accused of child abuse after police say she put a three-year-old autistic student in a headlock.

Volusia County officials said an education aide who works with 59-year-old Vilma Otero at a Deltona elementary school witnessed Otero putting the child in a chokehold during story time on Friday.

According to officials, the assistant teacher took photos of the incident with her cellphone while the child screamed, cried and tried to free Otero's legs.

According to an arrest report, after the incident, the child told officers, “She hurt me” and “I got in trouble at school.” The Department of Children and Families was contacted and a report was filed.

Otero told lawmakers she has been a teacher for 36 years and has spent most of that time working with children with special needs.

Otero was arrested for child abuse and held in the Volusia County Jail.