Christina Reszetar: Florida teacher sprays disinfectant on 4 students for refusing to wear masks properly
LARGO, FLORIDA: A high school teacher is facing child abuse charges for allegedly spraying four students with disinfectant after they refused to wear masks properly. Christina Reszetar, who teaches at Largo High School, was arrested on January 6 and has been pressed with four charges of child abuse. The Daily Mail reported that the incident happened on January 6; when police arrived at the scene, the 51-year-old told them that the four children were not wearing their face coverings properly amid the coronavirus pandemic. She then allegedly sprayed an aerosol disinfectant “into the path of their faces and bodies.”
Reports also said that the incident was captured on surveillance cameras. Reszetar was taken into custody and after spending a night behind bars, she was presented before a judge last Thursday, January 7. She maintained her innocence and said to the judge that for the last 18 years she has been teaching at Largo High School as a Learning Disabled Math teacher. She also claimed that surveillance footage will prove that she did not do anything wrong with the kids.
Reszetar was told by the judge that the accusations against her could be considered “a severely misguided attempt at discipline” and asked if she could hire a lawyer for herself. But the teacher responded, “I will not be able to afford one on my teacher’s salary.” Meanwhile, a request was made by the prosecutors before the judge to increase the amount of Reszetar’s bond, but it was denied and the accused was freed from the prison without a bond Thursday night.
According to the school district, Reszetar has been employed as an Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher. Before that, she worked at Pinellas Technical College-Clearwater, the Seminole Vocational Education Center and Dunedin Middle School. A Pinellas County School District spokeswoman said the employment of Reszetar was not canceled as of January 7 morning. The district also refused to give any more information regarding the case while it is being probed by the Largo Police Department. It added that the aerosol disinfectant that Reszetar allegedly used the students was not given to her by the school. Speaking of accusations against Reszetar her neighbor Teresa said, “I don’t think it was the right thing to do,” but added that “Teachers have to be under a lot of pressure right now with the virus.”
In another incident, a veteran teacher from Deltona, Florida was arrested for allegedly kicking a special needs student under her care that left him with abrasions. The 62-year-old Holly Eicher employed at Spirit Elementary School in Deltona for special needs students was charged with child abuse without great bodily harm. It was also found that the accused had earlier faced investigation for physical abuse of a child on two further occasions, in 2015 and 2019, but was not punished because it was determined that the allegations were "unsubstantiated." Later, Eicher was released from jail after paying $1,500 for bail, but she was put on administrative leave from the school district.