Noemi Hurtado, 11 year old ‘Latina’ Pasadena student at Blair Middle School forced to duct tape her own mouth shut by security guard for talking too much as her family now demand the security personnel face legal sanctions.
The family of a young Pasadena girl have expressed outrage following allegations that their 11-year-old daughter had her mouth forcibly duct taped at the hands of school personnel for ‘talking too much.’
Noemi Hurtado, a sixth grade student at Blair Middle School alleges a ‘black’ female security guard forcing her to place duct tape over her own mouth because she ‘spoke too much’ during recess on Monday.
Ricardo Hurtado, the girl’s father, claims the security officer then demanded his ‘humiliated’ daughter walk to the principal’s office with her mouth taped shut, KTLA5 reported.
Noemi Hurtado, 11 year old Pasadena girl humiliated
‘I guess she walked it all the way – humiliated her – from the middle school, walking through it, to the high school walking through it, all the way to her next classroom and still had the nerve to state to the teacher that she shouldn’t take off the tape because she has a hard time being quiet,’ Ricardo said.
The infuriated father added that the school’s head of security witnessed the entire ordeal and eventually intervened, removing Noemi from class.
‘An 11-year-old girl shouldn’t be going through this,’ the infuriated parent said during a Friday press conference.
In a statement provided to EURweb, Noemi’s father, expressed outrage over the actions of the security personnel.
‘Our family is outraged that a female security guard took it upon herself to physically restrain and duct tape our child’s mouth in the school office,’ the parent told the outlet. ‘We have filed a police report with the Pasadena police department. Our daughter is suffering tremendously emotionally.’
As of Saturday no charges in the case were filed.
Pasadena female security guard abuse of power
The alleged incident has led to civil rights activist Najee Ali, Director of Project Islamic Hope now taking up the 11 year old ‘traumatized’ girl’s fight following the alleged abuse of power.
‘Anytime a child is harmed by anyone, I’m going to fight for the safety and protection of all children until my last dying breath,’ the civil rights activist said.
The activist has also demanded ‘urgent answers’ from the school administration, particularly from Blair Middle School Principal Amy McGinnis.
‘Principal Amy McGinnis has to answer how she and school staff allowed a school security guard to duct tape a child in the school office. We support this child and her family.’
In the aftermath of the alleged abuse of power, Noemi’s parents are calling for better training for school security staff, with the goal of making sure such incidents not happening again and addressing students’ emotional and physical well-being.
’It’s about standing against misuse of authority and advocating for children’s rights to feel safe and protected in their learning environments,’ the civil rights attorney reiterated.
In a statement, the Pasadena Unified School District said it’s been made aware of the incident. It also said the security officer involved in the matter, whose name has not been released, was no longer employed by the district.
‘We take concerns like this very seriously and are cooperating fully with the Pasadena Police Department,’ the district’s statement read. ‘We are committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for our students.’
