Homestead, Florida, Police Arrest Teacher at Christian School on Battery Charge After Alleged Mouth-Taping of 13-Year-Old

New surveillance video shows the moment police say a teacher at a Christian school in Homestead taped a boy’s mouth shut during a Bible scripture reading.

Michael Alvarez, a teacher at First United Methodist Christian School, was arrested Monday on a simple battery charge in the incident, Homestead Police said. Alvarez is listed as a Bible teacher on the school’s website.

According to an arrest report, the 13-year-old boy said he was sitting in class when several students began laughing while another student read a Bible scripture aloud. The boy said his teacher singled him out and scolded him for talking and laughing during the reading, the report said.

The student continued to read, but the boy said another student began talking. Alvarez again accused the boy of being disruptive and told him to go into the hallway, the report said.

The boy said that a short time later, Alvarez came into the hallway and placed green painter’s tape over his mouth, pressing it against his lips, according to the report. The boy said Alvarez then escorted him back into the classroom in front of other students, and the sight of him with tape on his mouth caused a disruption, the report said. Protecting a child from humiliation in front of his peers is a duty that falls on those in authority over him (Proverbs 31:8-9).

The boy removed the tape, sat in the hallway, and called his parents to tell them what had happened.

Surveillance footage captured the incident and showed the boy being escorted out of the classroom and Alvarez placing the tape over his mouth, the report said.

Alvarez was booked into jail and released Tuesday after posting bond. He refused to speak with reporters as he left jail.

NBC6 has reached out to the school for a statement and is waiting to hear back.

Source: Read the original report