TYLER, Texas (KETK) — An arrest affidavit for three Tyler ISD staff members in Texas has shed new details on an incident that occurred in March, where a student’s hands were bound with tape and was forced to walk for hours.

Documents obtained from the Smith County Sheriff’s Office show that Tyler High School administration contacted the Tyler ISD police department to request camera footage from the Life Skills room on March 12.

An administration staff member stated that the incident likely occurred in the afternoon, as the student’s hands were still red when he got off the bus. They also mentioned speaking with an aide in the room, who indicated that the incident occurred before lunch, but was unsure how long the student’s hands had been taped.

The room is equipped with cameras that record both audio and video, the affidavit said. Upon reviewing the footage, officials were able to identify the student, who has Down syndrome.

The footage obtained from March 12 shows a teacher dropping off the student at around 11:30 a.m., after which the student is immediately made to walk in circles around the desk in the room. The teacher speaks to Krystina Haas, another teacher, before exiting the room. 

At the time of the incident, two other students and two paraprofessionals, June Tryon and Priscilla Gutierrez, were in the room, the affidavit said.

An officer with Tyler ISD recounted what he witnessed in the video:

“As I watched the video, [the student] continued to walk around the desk in a circle, passing Haas’s desk each time he made a lap,” the affidavit said. “I could tell that Haas and he would exchange words almost each time he passed. [The student] was made to continuously walk around the room. When he slowed down, Mrs. Haas would advise him that she did not tell him to slow down.”

At around 1:20 p.m., while still walking, the student and Haas allegedly spoke. When he reached the other side of the room, Haas reportedly told Tryon to “get the tape.” Tryon, according to the video, walked across the room and retrieved packing tape from a cabinet.

“Tryon then used the packing tape to tape up both of [the student’s] hands individually so that his fingers could not move,” the affidavit stated. “The second paraprofessional in the room then got up and got the scissors and cut the tape for Tryon so she could finish wrapping [the student’s] hands.”

At 1:52 p.m., Haas reportedly got up and added more tape to [the student’s] left hand to make it tighter. The student then continued walking until around 2:02 p.m. According to the affidavit, he had walked a total of two hours and 32 minutes.

Haas then made the student stop walking and cleared some space in the corner of the room, where she reportedly made the student stand with his hands on the wall in a position that looked “like he is standing in a position like he is going to be searched.”

The student was made to stand in the corner until around 3:46 p.m., when Haas cut the tape off his hands so he could leave on time to catch the bus, the affidavit details. The student stood in the corner for about an hour and 44 minutes and his hands were taped for about two hours and 24 minutes.

“During this time frame, Haas would curse at [the student] and make other comments to him. You could also hear Tryon speaking to him, being demeaning. Gutierrez sits at her desk and appears to crochet,” the affidavit said.

Officials stated that two other students in the class were also made to walk for more than two hours, but they were given breaks.

On March 25, the officer interviewed Tryon, who said the student had been acting out, being disrespectful, rude, cussing and flipping off the teachers. Tryon allegedly said it was customary to have students walk when they refused to do their work or were being disrespectful and said the student had been made to walk for 30 minutes.

When Gutierrez was interviewed, she reportedly told officials that the student walked around the room for about 30 minutes at the end of the day. 

“Gutierrez indicated that she had no part in taping [the student’s] hands, even though the camera showed her cutting the tape for Tryon when she was applying tape to his hands,” the documents said. “Gutierrez indicated she knew it was wrong but never told them to stop or went and told anyone.”

Gutierrez said Haas had threatened to tape [the student’s] hands before, but Gutierrez had never seen it done until this incident. She had also reportedly heard Haas curse at the student before.

The officer said another student from the same classroom stated that the student would cuss at the teacher and raise his middle finger, which led the teacher to tape his hands as the student was being a “bad boy.” The student also said that Haas was nice to her, but would yell at students when she was mad.

On March 27, during an interview with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office, Haas reportedly said, “he’s mean, he’s mean for no reason,” referring to the student. Haas said she had gone to administration about the problems she had with the student, but had not received any help. Haas also said that when students were made to walk, she would ask every 10 to 15 minutes if they would like to stop. “Haas said, ‘It’s not like he’s walking for hours and hours and hours and never doing anything but walking,'” the document said.

The purpose of the walking, Haas said, was not to hurt him but to show him there were consequences for his actions, “because it doesn’t seem like he’s getting consequences for his actions.”

That same day, officials spoke with the student’s guardian, who said that when she went to pick him up from the school bus, the student showed her a red mark on his right wrist. 

“‘[The guardian] explained that the next morning [the student] did not want to get up and go to school because of what happened.'”

Tyler ISD released the following statement:

“We believe in being transparent with our community while respecting the legal process and student privacy. This situation involved a student with disabilities and while it did not include sexual acts or severe bodily harm, we take any breach of student safety with the utmost seriousness. As soon as these allegations were brought to our attention, the district took immediate action—launching an internal investigation, notifying Child Protective Services as required by state law and fully cooperating with law enforcement. These individuals are no longer employed by the district.”

Since then, Haas, Tryon and Gutierrez have been arrested for injury to a child/elderly or disabled person with intent to cause bodily injury.