Danielle Buckland, the mother of an autistic girl prosecutors said was abused at the hands of a Clark County School District substitute teacher last year, said she came to court on Wednesday to be a voice for her 7-year-old.
She wanted to make sure that her daughter's abuser would never be allowed to work with children again.
That morning, District Judge Ronald Israel sentenced Roberta McIntyre, a former substitute at Robert E. Lake Elementary School, for felony child abuse or neglect in connection with January 2024 reports of a special needs student being hit on multiple occasions.
According to court records, McIntyre, 66, entered a plea agreement earlier this month. Prosecutors recommended that McIntyre be put on a five-year probation and prohibited from teaching. When Israel asked McIntyre and her lawyer, Justin Wilson, if they wanted to make a statement before he made a decision, the woman became defensive.
"I have worked as a teacher here and in New York for 12 years. I have never had any issues," McIntyre said. "I had six students and no [teaching] aide."
Then, Wilson interrupted McIntyre mid-sentence to give his interpretation of what he thought the woman "was trying to say." He said that after her arrest, McIntyre continued teaching at a charter school in the Las Vegas Valley and did not present any danger to the community in that position.
When Wilson finished his remarks in court, prosecutors invited Buckland, who wore a white T-shirt emblazoned with a puzzle piece logo -- the universal symbol of autism awareness -- to share how McIntyre's abuse affected her and her daughter, Lilly.
"You abused her on three different occasions because you believed she was non-verbal and would not be able to report what you did to her. You have not once expressed remorse for hurting Lily," Buckland said as she clutched a photo of her daughter that she brought to show the judge.
Reports from school police had said that, in late January 2024, McIntyre had raised her foot in a kicking motion as a student charged at her. A day later, when a student stood on a table and wouldn't get down, McIntyre flipped the table over, the report said. The table broke, according to police, and McIntyre grabbed the student by the hair and taunted them.
Another witness told police that McIntyre filled a backpack weighing 20-25 pounds and tried to make a student wear the backpack to keep the student seated. The student refused, and the witness saw McIntyre hit the student in the face, neck and chest with the backpack, the report said.
Because the names of minors were redacted from the report, it was not clear how many students McIntyre was accused of hitting. However, in court, Buckland named Lily as a victim of McIntyre's abuse.
"Your honor, Roberta needs to understand the damage that she has caused," Buckland told the judge. "After the home, school should be the next safest place for a child. Children, especially those with autism, should have teachers who care for them and protect them. Instead, Lily will remember how Roberta hurt her for the rest of her life."
Moments later, Israel sentenced McIntyre to five years of probation and said that she would no longer be able to teach minors under 14 years old.
"Being a teacher may be very difficult, but you clearly do not and did not act appropriately," Israel said. "In a teaching situation, I can't, nor can the state, afford the opportunity that this would happen again. So because of that, you are not allowed to teach young children."
Israel also said that McIntyre would have to complete a six-month anger-management course.
After the hearing, McIntyre could be heard screaming at her lawyer in the hallway outside the courtroom. Wilson said his client was devastated because "all she has known" is teaching.
Contact Akiya Dillon at [email protected].