Former school aide gets probation for abusing child on bus

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A former South Bend school aide convicted of abusing a special needs child has been sentenced to probation.

Sixty-eight-year-old Carla Chaffee was sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence to be served on probation. A St. Joseph County jury convicted Chaffee in January on one count of battery on a person less than 14 years of age.

The South Bend Tribune reports authorities say Chaffee was an aide for the South Bend School Corp. in December 2016 when she was seen violently shaking a 9-year-old girl with special needs on a school bus.

Prosecutors said the attack caused the girl's head to hit her seat four to five times and that Chaffee also grabbed the girl by the shoulder and pushed her into a seat.

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Information from: South Bend Tribune, http://www.southbendtribune.com