Virginia police handcuff, shackle 4-year-old boy with ADD

A four-year-old child with attention deficit disorder (ADD) was handcuffed, shackled and taken away by police in the US state of Virginia after his teacher and principal failed to calm him down.

The boy was arrested at Nathanael Greene Primary School after he allegedly threw blocks, climbed over desks, hit and kicked the principal and the director of special education, WVTF reports.

Instead of calling the child’s parents, authorities at school called a sheriff’s deputy assigned to the schools, who then hauled the handcuffed boy to the sheriff’s office.

“The boy was out of control, basically, throwing his arms around and kicking– trying to kick the deputy, trying to run away, and the deputy felt that putting the handcuffs on him was for his safety as well as everybody else’s,” County Sheriff Steven Smith claimed.

The boy’s mother, Tracy Wood, was notified after the encounter had taken place and arrived at school soon afterwards.

“When you call a parent to get their child, when they get to the school, you expect the child to be there– especially when you arrive in a timely manner,” the surprised mother said.

The principal told Mrs. Wood that her son was transported to the sheriff’s office. She rushed there to calm the distressed boy only to find that his legs were in shackles.

“My son is a very loving, caring, protective little boy. He deserves to go to school and feel safe and know that he’ll come back home to his mommy. He won’t be carted off like a criminal,” she said.

Charlottesville psychologist Jeffrey Fracher said the use of shackles and handcuffs on a child could have long-term consequences. “I can’t imagine any scenario where it would be appropriate to handcuff a child that young.”