Former Manatee County teacher avoids jail after restraining non-verbal student
A Bradenton teacher accused of tying up a 7-year-old non-verbal student during recess will avoid jail time, according to court records.
A Manatee County judge sentenced Carina Chindamo, 32, on April 7 to six months of community control followed by 12 months of probation, court records show. Under Florida law, community control is a form of supervised custody in the community that may include confinement to the home.
Chindamo pleaded no contest to a felony charge of false imprisonment, court records show.
Judge Matt Whyte also ordered Chindamo to complete 50 hours of community service and prohibited her from supervising or having unsupervised contact with minors.
Court records show Whyte withheld adjudication, meaning the case did not result in a formal conviction. Under Florida law, withholding adjudication allows a judge to impose penalties without formally convicting a defendant, provided certain conditions, such as completing probation, are met.
Chindamo, a former Exceptional Student Education teacher, is one of three former Manatee County school employees charged in connection with a series of incidents in early 2024 involving the restraint of a non-verbal autistic child at G.D. Rogers Garden-Bullock Elementary School.
Sentence in Bradenton teacher abuse case
Teacher’s aides Hydalmy Ortiz, 41, and Taylor-Joy Internicola, 40, also face charges of false imprisonment, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. Court records show the cases against Ortiz and Internicola are ongoing.
Chindamo and Internicola were also initially charged with battery, but court records show the misdemeanor charges were dropped in March.
An attorney representing Chindamo did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment.
The School District of Manatee County declined to comment on Chindamo’s plea and sentencing. In a statement issued after the arrests, the district called the allegations “disturbing and reprehensible” and said the employees had been removed from the classroom and reassigned to locations where students were not present.
In a June email to the Bradenton Herald, a district spokesperson confirmed that Chindamo, Ortiz and Internicola are no longer employed with the school district.
Others face similar charges
The Bradenton Police Department said it opened an investigation in February 2024 after receiving a report that a student had been restrained during recess. According to arrest reports, surveillance footage from Feb. 2 showed the child’s wrist tied with a nylon rope that was then looped around the leg of a chair.
Chindamo and Internicola took turns sitting on the chair while the child sat on the ground, police said. The incident lasted nearly an hour, and at one point, Chindamo was seen talking on her phone while seated on the chair, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.
Police said they later identified three earlier incidents involving the same student on Jan. 16, Jan. 24 and Jan. 29. In footage from Jan. 29, Ortiz was seen taking custody of the child while he was restrained, untying and retying the rope, sitting on it, using her phone and, at one point, pushing the child, causing him to fall to the ground, according to an arrest report. The child remained restrained for 15 to 20 minutes, investigators said.
Chindamo, Internicola and Ortiz were each arrested in February 2024 and released after posting $10,000 bond, court records show.
School district lawsuit
In September, the child’s mother, Takeila Jones, filed a lawsuit against the School Board of Manatee County and the three former employees. The complaint accuses the school district of negligence and the employees of false imprisonment and battery. It also alleges the district failed to provide a safe environment and did not adequately train or supervise personnel working with students with disabilities, according to court records.
Jones is seeking more than $100,000 in damages, according to the civil complaint. The case remains open.
The lawsuit claims her son suffered bodily injury, emotional distress and lasting psychological harm as a result of the repeated restraints. The injuries are described as permanent or continuing in nature.
In previous interviews with the Bradenton Herald, Jones’ attorney, Melton Little, said the child became physically ill after the incident and has shown signs of trauma. He now refuses to sleep in his own bed and instead sleeps outside his mother’s room. The family has since transferred the child to a different school.
“Based on the facts alleged, what happened was a horrible, traumatic thing for the child,” Little previously told the Herald. “We no longer live in a culture that believes it’s appropriate to put your hands on a child, particularly a child with special challenges.”
Little did not immediately respond to the Bradenton Herald’s request for comment Friday.
Ortiz and Internicola are scheduled to return to court for hearings on April 30, according to court records.
