PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- An Oregon woman is suing her son's former elementary school for an incident in which she says the 8-year-old was kept in handcuffs for at least a half hour.
Leslie Vincent's lawsuit, which was filed last Friday, says her son, now 9, was assaulted and falsely imprisoned in October 2009, The Portland Oregonian reported. She said he was the victim of discrimination against the handicapped because he had been diagnosed with ADHD.
"School should be a safe and happy place for your child," Vincent said Monday. "He shouldn't be restrained or locked out of classrooms or secluded from other kids because of behavior that is part of a disability."
The trouble began, Vincent said, when a teacher shut the boy out of the classroom because he was disruptive, leaving him in the hall with no supervision. Eventually, a police officer kicked him, causing him to fall on the ground, and then handcuffed him.
Vincent admits her son has a history of behavioral problems and has been diagnosed with oppositional defiant disorder.
The suit -- filed in federal court in Portland -- names three members of the faculty at the Highland Elementary School in Gresham, Gresham Police Officer James Seymour and the Gresham-Barlow School Board.
