Manatee Elementary ESE Teacher Arrested, Aide Sought

BRADENTON — A Manatee School District elementary teacher and teacher’s aide are facing criminal charges for allegedly tying a seven-year-old student to a chair during recess.

Warrants were issued early this week for the arrests of G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary ESE teacher Carina Chindamo, 31, and aide Taylor Internicola, 39, for tying the non-verbal student to a chair for an hour.

In a Tuesday press release, the Bradenton Police Department shared some of the disturbing details of the allegations:

“Security camera video of the school playground, recorded on Friday, February 2, shows Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher Carina Chindamo, 31, and aide Taylor Internicola, 39, tying the wrists of the boy with a nylon walking rope, a device used to teach students to walk in line. The rope was then wrapped around the leg of a chair. The child sat on the ground behind the chair, restrained, for approximately one hour. At various times in the video, Chindamo and Internicola were observed sitting on the chair, appearing to use their weight to keep the child from getting free,” the release read in part.

Investigators also said that throughout the video footage, Chindamo and Internicola were seen sitting on the chair, appearing to “use their weight to keep the child from getting free.”



An update issued by the Bradenton Police Department later the same evening shared that Chindamo was “in custody.”

Chindamo was arrested on a battery charge that was upgraded to false imprisonment. In an update on Wednesday morning, BPD shared that Internicola was not yet in custody. The case remains active with investigations ongoing.

The Manatee County School District provided the following statement about the incident:

“The highest priority of the School District of Manatee County is student safety. While we do not typically comment on matters which are currently being investigated by law enforcement or the State Attorney’s Office, the Bradenton Police Department has announced warrants for the arrest of an exceptional student education teacher and an aide for their conduct involving one of our students at Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary. The details of this incident, as described in the Bradenton Police Department Press Release, are disturbing and reprehensible.

The District has been fully cooperating with law enforcement throughout this active investigation. All of our protocols have been followed, including the employee’s removal from the classroom immediately after the incident was reported and reassignment to other District locations where students are not present.”