A horrific nursery school in Benevento: five teachers investigated for abuse.

Benevento – Slaps, insults, shoves, and children restrained in chairs and strollers. This is the picture emerging from investigations into a nursery school in the Sannio capital, which led to the registration of five teachers, both lay and religious, under investigation for complicity in aggravated child abuse.

The investigating judge of the Benevento Court, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office headed by Gianfranco Scarfò, ordered them to be placed under house arrest. The investigation was conducted by the Carabinieri.

The complaint and investigations

The investigation began with a complaint filed by the representative of a cooperative engaged in social and educational activities. Investigators then activated audio and video intercepts within the facility, successfully documenting a wide array of conduct deemed abusive.

The victims were children aged between 10 months and 3 years, some of whom were not yet able to walk.

Restraint, insults and violence

According to the findings, the children were subjected to forced restraints: pinned to chairs with their own clothing or left locked in strollers for long periods. Insults related to the children's clothing, size, and even their names were reportedly hurled.

The images also allegedly documented episodes of physical violence: slaps to the back of the head, hair pulling, and pushing, even against crawling children. Improper punishment and the use of force to force the children to eat or sleep were also alleged.

The climate of fear

"The atmosphere," according to a statement from the Prosecutor's Office, "was perceived as abusive by the children themselves." One element considered particularly significant by investigators concerns the defensive behavior of the minors: some of them, noticing a teacher approaching, instinctively raised their hands to their faces, as if to protect themselves.
A detail that, according to the prosecution, reflects the extent of an educational context transformed into an environment of fear and oppression.