A Colorado school bus driver admitted to slapping a 10-year-old girl during a mask dispute in an incident that was captured on camera.
In the video from Fremont County, Colorado, obtained by KKTV, the male bus driver can be seen and heard arguing with the young girl and telling her to wear her mask properly. After she resists and asks why she has to wear it, he slaps her.
The bus driver, Bertram Jaquez, has also admitted to slapping the girl, who had removed her mask because she was not feeling well.
“Out of reaction, I slapped her once,” Jaquez said in a written statement to the school district of the April incident.
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The school district responded with a statement of its own, saying that the driver has been terminated.
“We believe it is never okay to lay a hand on a child,” the statement said. “The District responded quickly to the situation by placing the driver on administrative leave so that we could fully investigate the incident. Local police were involved during the investigation as well as us being in contact with the child’s family. The driver’s action justified termination of employment, as it goes against District policy and our values.”
The statement continued: “We are very saddened by this incident. Our goal every day is to transport students safely to school and back home, but that can only happen when everyone, including students and staff, follows the rules. We are currently working to identify next steps to help our drivers with strategies designed to support a safe ride to and from school.”
Jaquez is reportedly facing misdemeanor charges, including harassment, assault causing injury, and child abuse.
Face masks mandated by the government in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus have become a contentious issue in the United States, especially when it comes to small children, who pose a very low risk of spreading the virus.
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Earlier this month, a 10-year-old boy in Florida went viral after questioning the need for children to wear masks at a school board meeting, while a mother in Georgia recently went viral after begging school officials to end the face mask requirement for children in schools.
Several states across the country, including Florida and Texas, have already done away with face mask mandates, while other states have promised to follow suit this summer.
