[DiamondSmiles]

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Action News

PHILADELPHIA - February 19, 2014 (WPVI) -- A 7 year old with special needs is missing teeth Wednesday night after an adult pulled a sweater from her mouth.

7 year old Harmani Osbey is missing her three front teeth.

The baby teeth would have fallen out own their own eventually, but by most accounts, they were yanked out by and adult, forcefully, Tuesday in her classroom at Solomon Solis Cohen School in Northeast Philadelphia.

"I understand Harmani is difficult some days, but she did not deserve that at all," said Harmani's mother Tomeka Speller.

Tomeka Speller explained that her 2nd grader gets in-school counseling for emotional problems from a therapist hired from an outside agency by the school district.

Tuesday morning, that therapist and four other adults were in the classroom.

Harmani was chewing on this sweater vest. The therapist told her to take it out of her mouth, and when she didn't, Harmani said she pulled it out.

"She come like this and pulled it real hard," said Harmani Osbey.

"Come behind her and yanked her vest out of her mouth and her teeth flew out; three of her teeth," said Speller.

"I was scared," said Harmani.

Other adults in the room including the teacher gave the same account in written statements.

They wrote: "The child was chewing on the vest when the therapist yanked it from her mouth pulling out the teeth and afterward the girl was bleeding. The school nurse called her mother."

"I was just angry. I was hurt. I was just so hurt that someone could do that to a child; not just any child, my child," said Speller.

"We were shocked that this occurred," said Fernando Gallard.

District spokesperson Fernando Gallard said that an investigation is underway, a police report has been filed and DHS notified.

"It is a contracted worker, and we are working with that contractor to make sure the individual does not return to any of our schools," said Gallard.

Tomeka Speller says she will press police to file criminal charges and she wants her daughter moved to a different school.

She also wants the woman who was hired to counsel her daughter to get counseling herself.

Really?! WTF? The counselor needs all her teeth pulled out with pliers.

[TwistedSisterr]

Id "counsel" that bitch

[BigFoot]

Someone didn't know how to spell the word Harmony at the birthing of their child.

[Blewvane]

Working with broken kids is stressful, the counselor needs to have some time off work to rest and rethink their career path. The vest was supposed to come out of her mouth, not teeth, i think it only made the news because the girl is black.
If it hurt enough then maybe little Harmani won't be so belligerant in the future.

[Pyramid_Head]

Don't take a job with special needs students if you don't have the patients.

[BBKF]

My sister worked with children with behavioral issues. One of them shoved a pencil all the way through my sister's hand. My sister was always a motherly type. I never was until I had my own child and even now find many children to be ill behaved and lacking discipline. That being said, if anyone pulled my son's teeth out, they would be missing some of their own.

[commondenom]

lemme guess...african american??? who else would give their kid such a stupid name!!!??

[DiamondSmiles]

A child is a child. One shouldn't work with them, if you cannot control yourself.

I don't have any, but, I babysit, and I cannot imagine anything to make me harm a baby!

Instead of screaming or cursing, I used to kind of growl, and they'd laugh. Or, I'd use a stupid word like, "Oh fiddle faddle!" or, "fiddle stix!"

[pyromancer555]

You all keep making it seem like she meant to hurt the kid. I dont think she actually met to hurt her at all sounds like it was an accidental thing .

[Spiffyfable]

Send her to China