Man taped crying student into chair, turned him upside down, cops say

The 5-year-old boy was wrapped with packing tape so he couldn't move from his wooden chair, cops say.

Compiled by Orlando Sentinel

12:53 PM EST, March 8, 2011

A 21-year-old man who worked as a "group leader'' at a Brevard County after-school program taped a crying boy to a chair and turned him upside down "as a form of discipline,'' Titusville police said today.

Police arrested Russell Evan Rochon today and charged him with aggravated child abuse for the alleged abuse of the 5-year-old boy at South Lake Elementary School's after-school program late last year.

Police said Rochon of Titusville no longer works for the Brevard County School District.

"The packing tape was wrapped around the child's chest and lap, with his arms to his side so he had minimal movement,'' police said in a report. "The defendant then picked the child up and turned him upside down, telling him he would not release the child from the chair until he stopped crying."

Rochon removed the tape after a different child said a teacher was heading to the classroom. Rochon does not have a teaching certificate in Florida, records show..

The boy who was taped "was extremely distraught during the incident and was crying, kicking and screaming to be let go,'' the report said.

At some point, another student put the victim into a large trash can, and Rochon allegedly pushed the boy down so he couldn't get out of the trash can, the report said.

Rochon was arrested this morning at his home in 4900 block of Cambridge Drive

'We are not aware of any physical injuries to the child other than mental anguish,'' Lt. Todd Hutchinson of the Titusville Police Department said in a statement.

The police investigation began after authorities were contacted by the Florida Department of Children and Families.