YouTube: Ex-teacher slaps Pittsburgh student

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A 20-second YouTube video shows a Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher slapping and yelling at an autistic special needs student.

Atty. Richard Thiele says the video surfaced just last week unbeknownst to his clients who knew it existed but hadn’t seen it. Thiele represents the 11-year-old student’s parents who sued the school district in July 2008 for the incident that allegedly happened in March 2008.

The lawsuit says the video was made by an intern using a cell phone who had seen the teacher abuse the student in the past.

The teacher is no longer employed and was removed from the classroom in June 2008 when district officials say they learned of the incident.

Thiele believes the victim’s friends or relatives posted the video, but he’s not sure.