School Employee Forces 11-Year-Old To Duct Tape Mouth: Reports

PASADENA, CA — A school security guard in Pasadena is no longer employed with the district after the woman forced an 11-year-old to put duct tape over her mouth because the student was too loud during lunch, according to reports.

Noemi Hurtado, a sixth-grader at Blair Middle School, was eating lunch March 24 on campus when she was asked to stop being loud but did not comply, and was taken to the principal’s office and told by the guard to duct tape her mouth, KTLA reported.

The guard then walked her around campus and to a nearby high school to “humiliate” her, the girl’s father, Ricardo Hurtado, told the station. The guard took the student to her next class, telling the teacher to keep the tape on, Ricardo Hurtado said to KTLA, which reported the head of security intervened and removed the child from class.

In a statement published in full by FOX 11, the Pasadena Unified School District said the substitute security officer involved in the incident no longer worked for the school system.

The Hurtado family has filed a police report, according to KTLA.

“While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we take concerns like this very seriously and are cooperating fully with the Pasadena Police Department,” the district said in the statement, FOX 11 reported.