PLANTATION, FLA. (WSVN) - A security specialist at Plantation Middle School was arrested and charged with child abuse for allegedly hitting a nonverbal special needs student with a belt while on a bus.
Plantation Police said they took Karnisia Coleman into custody on Tuesday in connection to the April 5, 2024 incident.
On Wednesday, she appeared in bond court. The 31-year-old faces one count of child abuse without great bodily harm.
According to the arrest form, the 14-year-old student, who has sickle cell anemia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, was sitting on the bus facing the aisle when the bus driver called for assistance after the child wasn’t behaving.
Investigators said the suspect got on the bus and told the teen to put his hand on the seat and possibly to put on his seat belt.
The report states the teen didn’t listen, so the security guard removed her belt and told the teen, “Does it look like I’m playing?”
The report further states Coleman “pulls her arm back from the elbow and strikes the child.”
As the guard left the bus, the arrest form states, the driver said to the teen, “She’s not going to be your friend again,: to which the security guard responded, ‘Exactly, you know I’ll beat you. I ain’t got no problems with it.”
The mother of the child said that she had no idea this had occurred, but it does shed light to the child’s demeanor during that weekend after the incident had happened.
In bond court, Coleman was given a $5,000 bond. The presiding judge said it should have been a higher amount.
“I do think the bond amount requested by the state is too low, but we’ll go with that. The bond will be $5,000,” said the judge.
As of Wednesday evening, Coleman remains behind bars. Her employment status with the school is uncertain at this point.
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