Ex-Teacher Gets Probation in Abuse of 5 Students

A former special education teacher convicted of verbally and physically abusing five seriously handicapped students at a San Pedro school was sentenced this week to two years’ probation and ordered to undergo counseling.

San Pedro Municipal Court Judge Lois Anderson Smaltz also ordered Juanita Barnett, 59, to perform 200 hours of community service and barred her from working with children under age 13.

Barnett was convicted in August on five counts of willful cruelty toward a child. A jury found that she had threatened children in her class at Willenberg Special Education Center and struck them with her hands, a hairbrush and a jigsaw puzzle, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Juana Webman.

Smaltz said overwhelming support from the community and Barnett’s 26-year record of service made her conclude that the abuse was aberrant behavior by a “a lady who cares very much about children.”