Complaint: Teacher Ties Disabled Girl To Chair
Helen Biever Faces 5 Felonly Counts
Posted: 10:05 am CST January 15, 2003Updated: 10:49 am CST January 16, 2003
MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee special education teacher faces five felony charges for punishing a disabled girl by tying her to a chair in a dark, locked storage room.
A criminal complaint says several teachers and school workers at Gaenslen Elementary knew about the bizarre punishment used by Helen Biever, but police weren't called for months.The complaint says students in an adjoining classroom told their teacher the student was locked in the closet again, the day before the punishment stopped.A co-worker once heard the girl screaming from the storage room."What we want to know is where were the whistle blowers in this case? Why, if people knew this was going on, was it allowed to continue for so long?" the girl's mother's attorney Daniel Davis said.The girl has cognitive disabilities and a seizure disorder.Her mother told police that stress aggravates the condition, but she didn't know about the punishment.Biever has been suspended without pay from MPS.The 40-year-old faces five felony counts of false imprisonment. If convicted, she could face up to 25 years in prison.
A criminal complaint says several teachers and school workers at Gaenslen Elementary knew about the bizarre punishment used by Helen Biever, but police weren't called for months.The complaint says students in an adjoining classroom told their teacher the student was locked in the closet again, the day before the punishment stopped.A co-worker once heard the girl screaming from the storage room."What we want to know is where were the whistle blowers in this case? Why, if people knew this was going on, was it allowed to continue for so long?" the girl's mother's attorney Daniel Davis said.The girl has cognitive disabilities and a seizure disorder.Her mother told police that stress aggravates the condition, but she didn't know about the punishment.Biever has been suspended without pay from MPS.The 40-year-old faces five felony counts of false imprisonment. If convicted, she could face up to 25 years in prison.Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
