Parents say teacher abused their handicapped son

FORT WORTH, Texas, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A jury in Texas is hearing evidence in a lawsuit charging a teacher abused a boy who was unable to speak or walk.

Breggett Rideau and her husband are seeking damages from the Keller Independent School District, located in an affluent suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. They say their son, Terrence Rideau II, nicknamed Little T, was emotionally and mentally damaged by the treatment he endured while he was in the care of Dan Evans.

Rebecca Bruton, who was a teacher's aide in 2007 and 2008, testified Wednesday that another teacher accused Evans of taking food from her students. Bruton also said Evans was fond of using his feet, kicking students on their feet when he wanted them to pay attention and using his own to roll them to mats.

"I thought that eventually he would end up hurting one of the kids," Bruton said. "I thought that the force that he used was unnecessary. I felt that the kids, even if they weren't physically hurt, they were emotionally distressed."

Evans said he only took cookies students left on their trays. He said he never kicked a student.

Evans was a special education teacher in the Keller schools from 2002 to 2011, when he resigned. An investigation determined he sometimes treated students roughly but cleared him of abuse.

Little T is now 18. His mother says he became disabled as a result of a contaminated vaccine when he was a baby.

The Rideaus filed the lawsuit in 2010.