A former Legacy Elementary special education aide has been fired, arrested, and charged with voyeurism after making lewd comments about a seven-year-old student’s chest — then physically exposing the child to another staff member, apparently just to drive the point home. The April 29 incident was witnessed by four colleagues and caught on classroom security camera, because when you’re going to do something spectacularly indefensible, you might as well do it in front of an audience and on tape.
T’nae Harrell, 36, reportedly admitted to the whole thing when investigators asked. Points for honesty, we guess. Frenship ISD found out about the incident on May 4 — five days after it happened — removed Harrell from the classroom, launched an investigation, fired her on May 7, and had her arrested the same night. She’s currently sitting in the Lubbock County Detention Center on a $50,000 bond.
Frenship ISD issued a statement calling the behavior “unacceptable and deeply concerning,” which is doing some extremely heavy lifting in the understatement department. The district has assured parents that “student safety is our top priority” — the kind of thing you say after a staff member allegedly victimized a first-grader in front of four witnesses and a security camera.
Counseling resources are being offered to students, parents, and staff. The seven-year-old’s family presumably did not need a press release to figure out something had gone wrong.
Nothing says “safe learning environment” like needing a felony arrest to establish that you shouldn’t make lewd remarks about a child’s body at an elementary school.
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