TYLER, Texas (East Texas News) — A former substitute teacher with the Tyler Independent School District pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting a student with special needs by throwing her to the ground.
Joacim Castro-Lacayo, 29, a Tyler resident, was charged in April with injuring a minor with a disability.
According to the arrest affidavit, the incident began with a verbal confrontation between Castro-Lacayo and a high school student. The affidavit states that Castro-Lacayo wrapped an arm around the student’s neck before shoving her to the floor and landing on top of her, with his knee apparently pressed into her stomach.
Video footage from the classroom shows Castro-Lacayo pinning the student to the floor with his full body weight for several minutes, and the affidavit says he repeatedly ignored her after she said she could not breathe.
The video ends with Castro-Lacayo warning the student not to lie about the altercation, allegedly telling her: “Because if I had to hit you,” pausing and pounding his desk, “I would end up in jail.”
Castro-Lacayo appeared in court Friday morning, where he pleaded guilty to the charge.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January 8.
