The former educator who is accused of breaking the arm of a child who was three years old at Mead School in Ansonia has been taken into custody by the police.
According to the arrest warrant, the youngster, who is a student at the school and is enrolled in a pre-K program, was at the playground with other pupils at approximately 9:30 a.m. on March 25 when the event occurred.
According to the arrest request, the video shows Mary Durso-Smith, a pre-K special education teacher, grabbing the child’s arm and dragging him after he attempted to go up the slide in the opposite direction. She continued to drag him after he fell to the ground.
According to the police, she is no longer employed at the school.
She told the police that Durso-Smith, 32, of New Haven, had told them that the students were at recess and that she had assisted the boy up after he fell, and then she had helped him walk over to a bench to sit down. This was the information that the principal shared with the police when she reported the event. After that, she took him to the nurse when she noticed that there was anything wrong with his arm, as stated in the arrest warrant.
The nurse reported to the principal that she believed the child’s arm was dislocated. Subsequently, medical personnel from Yale New Haven Hospital discovered that the youngster had a fracture to the upper arm, which required surgery, as stated in the arrest warrant.
The video, according to the police, captured the incident, and Durso-Smith grabbed the child’s arm and dragged him as he attempted to go up the slide in the wrong direction. He continued to drag him until he fell to the ground, and then he lifted him and placed him on the bench.
Based on the information provided by the police, the young child was seen sitting on the bench while holding his arm, which appeared to be hanging.
According to the police, they reached out to Durso-Smith, and she left a message in which she informed them that she had obtained legal counsel and would not be submitting a statement going forward.
On Tuesday, Durso-Smith was taken into custody, and she was charged with assault in the second degree as well as risk of injury against another person.
At the arraignment that took place on Thursday at Derby Court, she was ordered to remain away from the child and his family immediately.
It is scheduled that she will appear in court again on June 24.
