6-year-old handcuffed by school security guard for one hour under stairs

A special needs 6-year-old girl in a Chicago school was accused by co-students of stealing a piece of candy and told on her when her mother, Marlena Wordlow, said it was in her lunch. 

As a form of punishment, security guard Divelle Yarbrough, who has since been fired, reportedly handcuffed Madisyn under some stairs by boilers at the school for over an hour. Wordlow arrived at the school to find her daughter still attached to the stairs.

A lawsuit was filed by an attorney on behalf of the girl's mum on Thursday to sue the Chicago Board of Education and the security guard involved. The suit alleges excessive force, false imprisonment and emotional distress.

“It’s not about the lawsuit, it’s about letting people know you can’t treat children like that. She’s only six,” Wordlow told WLS.

Wordlow spoke to the New York Daily News about what Yarbrough said about the incident.

“He said, ‘I’m teaching her a f*****g lesson. She took a piece of candy, and I handcuffed her under the stairs,” she said.

“He told me if I was a real parent, I would find out what was going on instead of jumping the gun,” she added.

“The safety and well-being of our students is vitally important to the District, and we take these allegations seriously,” CPS said in a statement on Wednesday, according to WLS. “Once the incident came to light, the District immediately took the appropriate steps to address this situation and ensure our students’ safety.”

CPS also said they put a “do not hire” note in the guard’s personnel file.