Teacher who helped duct-tape autistic youngster to chair weeps in courtroom

An Ohio teacher wept in court as she tried to defend laughing and filming while her colleague duct-taped an autistic child with Down Syndrome to a chair.

Rachel Smith, 27, was found guilty of unlawful restraint and two counts of endangering children over the March incident, Fox 19 reports.

The ex-West Clermont High School teacher told the court that and colleague Allison Vestring engaged in the sick act in ‘fun’ rather than punishment.

But her defense was rejected by the court and the teen’s devastated parents.

‘We sent him to school to make sure he’s not bullied and we wouldn’t have expected it from the teachers,’ his father said.

Ohio teacher Rachel wept in court as she tried to defend laughing and filming while her colleague duct-taped an autistic child with Down Syndrome to a chair

They added that their son has limited physical and verbal skills and that the ordeal makes them ‘sick to their stomach’.

The 15-year-old student’s plight was captured in a harrowing video taken by Smith in which he can be heard trying to call for help as she laughs.

‘Try and get up,’ Smith taunts the boy as he sits helplessly tied to the chair.

‘This isn’t funny,’ he manages to say, prompting the teachers to giggle again and insist that it is.

Another video shows the boy trying to call another teacher who he is close to for help.

‘He’s not coming to help you,’ Smith laughs as the teen cries out again. ‘He’s not coming, you’re stuck,’ she adds. 

Court documents state that the teen was left bound to the chair for up to five minutes.

On the stand, Smith tried to defend her heinous actions by claiming the boy never asked her to stop.

The 15-year-old has limited physical and verbal capabilities but was seen calling for help in a distressing video of the ordeal

Smith, 27, was found guilty of unlawful restraint and two counts of endangering children over the March incident

Her colleague Allison Vestring previously pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years of community service

‘I was honestly not thinking at the time I just thought he would say something funny,’ she sobbed. ‘He never said “stop”, he never said, “quit” he has said those words before in the past and that didn’t happen at that time.’

But in court, the teen’s parents said that their son had been left with lasting trauma.

‘We were putting up birthday decorations and he saw the tape and said, “scared of tape” so we had to take him and move him out of the room,’ his father explained.

Vestring previously pleaded no contest and was sentenced to five years of community service. She has been banned from working with special needs students.

Smith is due to be sentence at the beginning of October.