Police Say Child's Skull Fractured By School Employee

PINELLAS PARK, FL — A supervisor and an employee at AMIKids in Pinellas Park have been charged with aggravated child abuse after a 12-year-old boy at the school sustained serious injuries while being subdued by a school employee.

On Feb. 13, Pinellas Park Police detectives were called to All Children's Hospital when hospital staff reported possible child abuse after treating a 12-year-old boy for a skull fracture.

Detectives learned that on Feb. 11, the boy, a student at AMIkids at 6500 102nd Ave. N., Pinellas Park, began "acting out" at lunch. AMIkids is a school for at-risk students.

According to detectives, behavioral interventionist Dontae Antonio Thomas, 34, of Ruskin, took the student to the "Room of Opportunity" where a physical altercation occurred between the child and Thomas.

Detectives later learned that Thomas, who weighs about 300 pounds, tried to subdue the 100-pound youth by placing him in an "arm bar," a type of martial arts hold. In the process, the child's head was slammed on a hard surface.

Afterward, the boy began vomiting and lost consciousness on more than one occasion.

The boy was left under adult supervision for about 90 minutes before another behavioral interventionist escorted the child to a conference room where he was observed for about 30 minutes by various staff members before being escorted to the school bus.

The behavioral interventionist brought a trash can on the bus in case the child vomited again and rode the bus with the students although this isn't normal procedure. The behavioral interventionist then directed the driver to stop at the home of another student to get water for the boy. The bus driver passed the student's bus stop and proceeded directly to the boy's home where he was dropped off.

Once at the student's home, the AMIkids employee watched from the street as the child went into his house, two hours after sustaining the injury. The employee never made contact with the child's mother.

The child was kept out of school on Feb. 12 because his mother thought he had the flu. On Feb. 13, still unaware of what had occurred at the school, she took her son to All Children's Hospital when his condition hadn't improved. Doctors discovered the child had a fractured skull, two subdural hematomas and a brain bleed. All the injuries are believed to be caused by the encounter with the behavioral interventionist.

Jarvis Delon West, 28, of Pinellas Park, who was supervisor at the school that day, was arrested and charged with failure to report child neglect and child neglect resulting in great bodily harm. Pinellas Park Police detectives said West was aware that force was used against the student, that the student was in obvious medical distress and he failed to provide medical attention or to report abuse or neglect as required by state statute.

On Feb. 20, detectives met with the State Attorney's Office and a warrant was signed for Thomas' arrest. Thomas subsequently turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office where he was charged with first-degree felony aggravated child abuse. His bond was set at $150,000.

AMIkids Pinellas has released the following statement in response to the investigation:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the young man and his family during his time of recovery. When we were notified by the authorities as to the extent of this incident, we took immediate disciplinary action. AMIkids Pinellas does not tolerate any behaviors that could cause harm to our students, as our top priority is the safety of our kids, our team and this community. In addition to fully cooperating with the authorities, we are also conducting an internal investigation of this matter."