VIENNA, Va. — Three Fairfax County Public Schools employees are facing charges after investigators found that several children with intellectual disabilities were assaulted, Fairfax County police said in a news released Monday.
A grand jury handed down indictments on three FCPS employees after abuse of non-verbal children was noticed in mid-September, police said. The children are students at Freedom Hill Elementary School in Vienna, police said.
Fairfax County police officials and an FCPS representative provided more details during a news conference Monday afternoon.
Cylmeera Gastav, Cecilia Maria Benavides and Scott Bloom were named in the indictments.
Gastav, 48, of Herndon, Va., was hired in 2018 as a fulltime employee for FCPS, but had worked with the school district for several years prior, school officials said.
Cecilia Maria Benavides, 59, of Alexandria, Va., faces one felony and three misdemeanor charges in connection with the incident, police said. She was hired with the school district in 2000, school officials said.
Benavides and Gastav each face several felony cruelty and injuries to children as well as misdemeanor assault and battery.
The school’s former principal Bloom, 39, of Reston, Va., was also indicted for failure to report previous concerns, police said. He had taken on new position this year, but police said the abuse had gone on last year and Bloom had failed to contact Child Protective Services at that time. It’s unclear what previous incidents had happened.
While police believe all the victims have been identified, they urge the public to reach out if they have any additional information.