Teacher charged with making boy eat banana

FAIRFIELD, Conn., March 24 (UPI) -- Authorities say a Fairfield, Conn., teacher has been charged with making a 5-year-old eat a banana from a garbage can.

Anne O'Donnell, 67, is charged with risk of injury to a minor, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, The (Bridgeport) Connecticut Post reported Tuesday.

O'Donnell, who appeared in court with her lawyer Monday, allegedly retrieved a unpeeled banana discarded by the boy, peeled it and told him to eat it, which he did, said a police report on the March 12 incident at the Park City Magnet School.

O'Donnell has been placed on medical leave pending the outcome of the case, said her lawyer, Robert Berke, noting his client had been "well respected in the classroom for years and is now being portrayed as a monster."

The boy was so traumatized he now becomes physically ill when it is time to go to school, said his mother, Latoya McLean.