Elementary school teacher in Sanford accused of hitting autistic student in face

SANFORD, Fla. — Channel 9 learned that a teacher at Sanford's Bentley Elementary School was arrested after being accused of beating an autistic student in her special-needs class.

Police charged Clorinda Megaro with felony child abuse without great bodily harm after the incident allegedly went down early Friday.

"She did the wrong thing," one parent told Channel 9. "She shouldn't have been able to do that, you know what I mean?"

Police got involved after two teacher's aides in Megaro's classroom reported they saw her strike a student on the cheek.

Child Protective Services also joined the investigation.

A Seminole County Schools spokesman told Channel 9 Megaro has only been on the job since October and has a clean record with the district.

She's now on suspension and could be fired without school board approval since she is still in her probationary period.

"It just bothers me that a teacher would attack a child, but I don't know the circumstances," said one student's grandmother, Chris Johnson.

Megaro is currently in jail on $2,000 bond.

WFTV