St. Lucie County bus aide accused of hitting student

PORT ST. LUCIE — An aide on a school bus primarily for special-needs children is facing a felony child abuse charge after allegedly hitting a 7-year-old boy, police said Friday.

Belinda "Gail" Daniels, 45, of the 1900 block of Avenue K in Fort Pierce, allegedly struck the special-needs child Sept. 12 on the ride to school, and police and school district officials ensured she "was no longer on a bus," Officer Cherie Lucas said.

PDF: Read the arrest report.

Lucas said video captured by cameras on the bus, which had about eight children on it at the time, played a key role in the case.

The victim, who was sitting down, reportedly dropped his bookbag and was bending down to reach it when Daniels picked it up from the seat behind him.

"Daniels yells at the victim, saying, 'Boy, what did you do? Get in that seat,' " Lucas wrote in a portion of a warrant application that summarizes the video. "

She then reaches into the seat where the victim was, and she 'swats' something in the seat, but you cannot actually see what her hand connects with."

Lucas said one witness reportedly saw Daniels' hand make contact with the victim.

"I believe in my mind that any reasonable person looking at that video would believe that the child was struck," Lucas said. "It substantiated everything that the original witness, the complainant, told me."

Daniels then yanked the victim up and "roughly" put him in the seat, Lucas said.

But Daniels told investigators she hit no one.

"I would never do anything to put my job in jeopardy," she is quoted as saying in a warrant application. "I am a Christian woman who reads my Bible and I listen to my gospel music."

St. Lucie County Schools Personnel Director Maurice Bonner said Daniels as of Friday is still a district employee. Bonner said the district is aware of the incident and is investigating the issue and won't comment until after the investigation is completed.

It took several days for police to determine the victim's identity, get statements from witnesses, question Daniels and consult with the state attorney's office. The victim wasn't injured and "had no knowledge of what happened," Lucas said.

Daniels was arrested in 1985 on a fraud charge and convicted, though an unemployment fraud charge brought against her in 1994 was dropped, according to Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.

Janice Karst, school district spokeswoman, said convicted felons aren't eligible for employment with the district, but those with misdemeanor convictions can be hired depending on what the misdemeanor was and if the applicant is forthcoming with the information. But if the charge relates to "moral turpitude" or is "anything that would negatively impact their being around students" or school operations, then they likely wouldn't be hired.

Daniels received generally high evaluations dating back to 2001, according to school district records.

A 2003 evaluation notes she's a "very compassionate and caring individual" and "goes above and beyond her duties to assist with difficult situations."

Daniels was released Friday afternoon from the St. Lucie County jail on $1,000 bail, a jail official said.

Staff writer Keona Gardner contributed to this report.