Special education teacher at Lincoln elementary school charged with felony child abuse

A former special education teacher at a Lincoln elementary school was charged with felony child abuse for the allegedly abusing three young students.

Hillary Everett, 43, was arrested on Tuesday and made her first court appearance Wednesday. The former educator at Beattie Elementary School faces one count of intentional child abuse without injury, a felony which carries up to three years in prison.

According to an arrest affidavit, a paraprofessional in Everett’s classroom called the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services’ child abuse hotline on Feb. 26 to report Everett abusing multiple children in her care. Everett worked with special needs students in kindergarten and first grade, according to court documents.

Everett is charged with the abuse of three special education students, ages 5, 6 and 7, two of whom are nonverbal. The abuse is alleged to have taken place starting in August of last year and continued until the hotline report was made.

Two of Everett’s colleagues told police they witnessed Everett smear hand sanitizer onto the mouth and nose of a 5-year-old nonverbal boy in an attempt to stop him from spitting, according to the affidavit.

The paraprofessional also told police she saw Everett spray a bleach water solution onto the hands of the 5- and 7-year-olds to prevent them from putting their hands in their mouths. She alleged Everett would “grip, squeeze and escort” the children by their ears, and said she saw Everett slap a 6-year-old student in the back of the head.

Once school administration became aware of the allegations, according to a statement from Lincoln Public Schools, they “immediately ensured Everett was not in the classroom.” She is no longer employed with the school district, where she started her teaching career in 2016. Parents were notified of the ongoing investigation on March 4.

Interim LPS Superintendent John Skretta said the district will not tolerate any abuse or “mishandling” of students, and said it will fully cooperate with the investigation.

“This is the type of news you never want to get as a school administrator,” Skretta said in a statement. “It is our duty as educators to prioritize the safety and well being of every child that walks through our doors. It is a responsibility we don’t take lightly.”

Everett was released from jail after posting bail on Wednesday. As a condition of her release, she is not permitted to have contact with children except for her own.