Another West Plains, Mo. State School teacher charged in assault of student

WEST PLAINS, Mo. (KY3) - Another teacher at Ozark Horizon State School has been charged with assaulting a student who was non-verbal and suffers from a genetic condition.

Court records say Christy Rinear is charged with child abuse and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Six other staff members of the school were charged in August 2022 for an unrelated incident.

According to a probable cause statement, Rinear worked as a special education teacher for Ozark Horizon State School and had teacher aides who helped her with five students.

In October 2022, one of the aides witnessed Rinear grab a student, who is non-verbal and has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS), by the arm and slam him against a wall causing the student to hit his head. The aide told authorities the student then fell to the floor and started making whining noises. The aide reported the incident to the school administrator and the Missouri Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline.

Court documents show another student also witnessed this incident and stated Rinear grabbed the boy “way too tight” and that he couldn’t move.

Another incident occurred in October where a different teacher aide noticed bruising on the right arm of a student and reported it to the school administrator as well. According to video footage obtained by police, around 1 p.m. that day, the student was seen hitting the ground after following Rinear.

Rinear is scheduled to be arraigned in court on March 13.

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