Duct-taping Teacher Faces Charges

October 31, 2005

Santa FE, NM - An arraignment could start as early as Wednesday in a case where a Santa Fe Public Schools teaching intern, according to a student witness, ''snapped'' and duct-taped several children in her sixth-grade Chaparral Elementary classroom. She faces felony charges of child abuse and false imprisonment.

Alice Yuen's indictment last week brought up eight counts of child abuse and two counts of false imprisonment stemming from a school day that occurred in late May.

According to a witness, she taped some students' mouths closed with duct-tape in the morning and then, after lunch, proceeded to bound two of the students to chairs in order to restrain them.
Eight students are named as victims in the indictment. The students reported the incident to Chaparral Principal Theresa Ulibarri.

Ulibarri said she Yuen was removed from the classroom and was interrogated by her. As an explanation for her actions Yuen told her she had become angry because some boys in the classroom were chasing each other.

Yuen told her she took out the duct tape and threatened to use it and that the students had instigated her using it.

The following day, Ulibarri and a counselor from the Santa Fe Rape Crisis Center met with the class to discuss what had happened and offer private counseling to students who wanted it.

Prosecutors are seeking to schedule an arraignment in District Court on Wednesday. The District Court Judge Stephen Pfeffer will write out the conditions of her release that will probably include no contact with children.

The indictment provides Santa Fe and Los Alamos addresses for Yuen, but no telephone number was listed for her.

Ulibarri said she had not heard any complaints about the teacher's behavior prior to this incident.

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