‘It’s a battle;’ Family sues DPS, former employee after staff member seen hitting nonverbal child

DAYTON — A family is suing Dayton Public Schools and an employee after a teacher’s aid was seen hitting their four-year-old autistic son.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ex-DPS employee seen hitting nonverbal child, picking him up by ankles ruled temporarily incompetent

As News Center 7 previously reported, this happened at Rosa Parks School. Surveillance video shows the moment that the former employee chased the child down the hall and then knocked him to the ground.

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the lawsuit filed in court Tuesday is directed at the school board, the school district, and Darrick Sorrells, the former DPS employee.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Judge grants competency evaluation for former Dayton Schools employee facing assault charges

Robert Tootle and Taneisha Lindsey, the parents of four-year-old Brayden Tootle, said almost a year after the horrifying incident they haven’t got what they want the most—answers about why this happened to their son.

“It’s a battle just because of the fact that nobody has reached out to us on any end as far as me and his mother,” Tootle said.

The lawyer representing the family told News Center 7 the lawsuit is necessary because the school district simply is not providing answers.

“How long was he incompetent? Was he incompetent when they hired him? Should he never have been hired in the first place? So those are questions that we have,” said Michael Wright, the family’s attorney.

Wright is not just referring to Sorrell’s job performance, but also the fact that after he was criminally charged in the incident, he was found not competent to stand trial.

Dayton Public Schools provided the following statement:

When this event occurred in August 2023, the District took immediate action to investigate and address the incident. The employee was placed on leave that day and is no longer employed with Dayton Public Schools. The parents of the student involved were also communicated with the same day the incident occurred. Shortly after, a meeting was held at Rosa Parks Early Learning Center to discuss the matter with families and address their questions and concerns.

—  Dayton Public Schools

Tootle’s parents do not agree with that.

“It’s just sad that, you know, they were trying to make themselves look better for the public versus trying to make amends with us and we all seen the same video,” Lindsey said.

The one other thing the lawsuit claims, in addition to the negligence and assault and battery, is the intentional infliction of emotional distress.

We will continue following this story.

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