Amy Bonzano Virginia teacher, 50, arrested assaulting special needs student. Investigation reveals the educator assaulting the student six months earlier, but assault was not reported.
A Virginia special education teacher has been accused of assaulting a special needs student.
Amy Bonzano, 50, upon her arrest on Friday was charged with two counts of simple assault of a special needs student.
The educator’s arrest comes after another school employee claimed witnessing the assault at Marshall High School on Sept. 28, Fairfax County police said.
That employee immediately reported the assault to the school’s administration, which led to an internal investigation.
During the investigation, school officials discovered another teacher had also witnessed Bonzano physically assault the same student some six months earlier. That teacher, however, did not report the incident at the time. It remained unclear why the teacher declined to notify school authorities.
Broken trust
Fairfax County police then took over the investigation, leading to Bonzano’s arrest on Friday.
Marshall High School principal Jeffrey Litz wrote a letter to students’ families after the arrest in which he explained that Bonzano had been placed on administrative leave after the Sept. 28 assault was reported.
‘I am deeply saddened tonight to inform you that Fairfax County police have announced the arrest of a special education teacher at Marshall High School who has been charged with assaulting a student,’ Litz wrote. ‘When the alleged incident occurred on September 28th, we contacted the family and the proper authorities, and placed the staff member on administrative leave.’
Litz also said the teacher who failed to report the earlier incident was placed on administrative leave as well according to FOX News.
‘As the police reference, the investigation resulted in a staff member sharing that they had witnessed a similar incident six months earlier but did not report it,’ he wrote. ‘I want you to know that the person who did not report the previous incident was immediately placed on leave.’
‘As principal, my primary responsibility is the safety and security of everyone who enters the doors of Marshall High School,’ Litz continued. ‘This is something I take very seriously. As educators, we are entrusted with the wellbeing of the children in our care every day. It deeply affects us when someone appears to have broken that trust.’
Both incidents remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfax County Police at 703-246-7800.
