Mom of disabled student demands answers for unexplained injuries

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (KABC) -- The mother of a severely disabled child is demanding answers after her daughter came home from school in Victorville with unexplained injuries.

Two weeks ago, Guillermina Varela said her daughter, Alex, was dropped off in front of their Victorville home screaming in pain.

The 17-year-old has cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities, making her unable to communicate.

Varela said she turned to her daughter's bus driver for answers.

"'She was like this when I pick her up.' And I said, 'The teacher didn't say anything?' She goes, 'No, he doesn't say anything he just put her on the bus and that's it,'" Varela explained.

Varela said she found a note in Alex's backpack. The teacher explained that Alex's foot got caught in a desk.

Alex's foot quickly began to swell, and while her daughter was at urgent care, Varela was told Alex had a sprain. Three days later, however, Alex was still in pain.

The teen's pediatrician ordered X-rays which revealed she had a broken tibia.

"We cannot believe it that she was in pain for three days, four days she was miserable," Varela said.

But this wasn't the first time Varela said her daughter came home with bruises and scratches. Three days prior to the broken leg, Varela said she documented deep scratches on Alex's right arm.

When she asked Alex's teacher, Varela claimed he changed his story twice.

Varela then called the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department who told her it wasn't a case of abuse.

"I'm not accusing the teacher, I'm not accusing anybody, but I don't know, somebody there is doing it," she stated.

Varela pulled Alex out of the special needs program overseen by the San Bernardino County superintendent of schools.

Alex attended a class for students with disabilities located at Cobalt Institute of Maths and Science Academy, which is not affiliated with the special needs program.

A spokesperson for the superintendent told Eyewitness News they were investigating the incident, and that the teacher responded appropriately by reporting the incident to both the school and parent.

The sheriff's department said they were also investigating, but Varela is still angry. She and her husband said school administrators repeatedly ignored their daughter's injuries.

"I want to know who did it, and I want it to stop," Varela said.