ST PARIS, Champaign County — Investigators charged an area school administrator after they said he choked a student.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Emilio Valdez is accused of choking a student at Operation Rebirth, a Boys Christian Boarding Academy, in Saint Paris.
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He is currently facing strangulation and endangering children charges, according to Champaign County Court of Common Pleas records.
Champaign County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Young told News Center 7 that this all started after kids showed up late to school.
“When the students arrived for school that day, they were late, he had a verbal interaction with one of the students and he didn’t like the student’s response, and his response to that was to grab the student by the back of the neck and then under the front of his chin and strangled him and took him to the ground,” Young said.
The sheriff’s office shared a 90-second video of the interaction with News Center 7’s Taylor Robertson.
It shows Valdez put his hands around the 13-year-old’s neck while other students and a teacher watched. At one point, the child’s feet were off the ground.
Young said the teacher was Valdez’s wife.
“We were lucky that we had that video,” Young said.
The video is not public yet due to the student’s age.
Young said students at Operation Rebirth spend the week there and go home on the weekends.
“I’m not saying they’re behavioral issues, that they can’t be in a normal school. They just thrive better in that environment, and your educator, your role model, your protector, that’s what you get from it,” Young said.
The school has “house parents” who watch over the students.
“The house parents saw it and talked with his team, they prayed about it, they talked with their board, the board addressed it and called us,” Young said.
Operation Rebirth would not confirm if Valdez is still working at the school.
Young said Valdez has not gone to jail for these charges.
“I would hope that a judge would place him in jail at some point in time, because I think he needs to be incarcerated at some point in time for the consequences,” Young said.
A spokesperson from the school provided the following statement to News Center 7.
At this time, Operation Rebirth, Inc. is not providing public comments or participating in interviews related to the ongoing legal proceedings.
We appreciate your understanding as we remain focused on the wellbeing of our staff, students and the integrity of the process ahead.
— Operation Rebirth Christian Academy spokesperson
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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