6-year-old autistic child allegedly grabbed around throat aggressively by teacher at West Virginia school, 3 staff members facing charges

MARSHALL COUNTY, W. Va. (WTRF) – Charges have been filed by law enforcement against three Marshall County educators involving alleged abuse of an autistic child.

The West Virginia State Police began an investigation into this alleged neglect back in October after a complaint was made about a child being abused by a teacher.

Now, some of these school employees are facing felony charges.

The investigation started on Oct. 8 when state police were made aware of an incident involving potential child abuse at McNinch Elementary School that had occurred on Sept. 18.

According to the complaint, a special needs teacher, Kiersten Nicole Moses, grabbed a 6-year-old autistic child by the neck and used both hands to squeeze the student.

The report says the child is non-verbal.

As the investigation continued, Sergeant S.M Durrah learned the alleged abuse was witnessed by an aid, who reported the incident to the school principal, Jane Ann Duffy.

The court filing says Duffy advised that the student needed to be seen by the school nurse, and she later reported the incident to Erin Michelle Cuffaro, the Marshall County Special Programs Director.

The incident was recorded and later viewed by both Duffy and Cuffaro.

The court filing claims the video shows Moses physically grabbing the child’s neck for several seconds; therefore, meeting the requirements for a report to be made through the Child Abuse Hotline.

Per state law, mandated reporters are required to contact the Department of Human Services within 24 hours when they suspect abuse or neglect.

According to the investigating officer, no report was made to the department by school personnel until Oct. 5.

Now, several criminal complaints have been filed against these three educators in the Marshall County Magistrate Court.

The teacher accused of grabbing the child, Moses, faces four felony charges including two counts of battery and assault of a disabled child, strangulation and child abuse resulting in injury.

Duffy, the principal of McNinch Elementary, is charged with one misdemeanor count of failure to report the suspected child abuse.

The county’s special programs director, Cuffaro, also faces several charges including eight felony counts of child neglect resulting in injury, and multiple misdemeanors including failure to report, interference with officers and obstruction.

Investigators say Cuffaro put eight children at risk by not removing Moses from the classroom and failed to report the abuse on at least two occasions.

One of those misdemeanor charges involves text messages between Duffy and Cuffaro describing the incident that had allegedly been deleted by Cuffaro.  

7News reached out to Marshall County School officials and were provided a statement by Superintendent Dr. Shelby Haines.

She says, “Our top priority is educating children. We have been and will continue to collaborate with law enforcement, the WV Department of Education, and legal counsel.”

All three educators have been arraigned and posted bond.

Stay tuned to 7News for developments.