Kinyatta Sims {BSO}
By Kevin Deutsch
A Margate Elementary School guidance counselor was charged with child abuse for pushing a child to the ground, court records show.
Kinyatta Sims, 32, of Sunrise, was helping with dismissal at the school at 6300 NW 18th St. on Nov. 1 when she spotted an 11-year-old boy arguing with another student, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Margate Police.
Sims sent both children to the school’s administrative office, records show. One student went on their way as instructed, but the 11-year-old “instead began arguing with Sims,” the affidavit states.
The student said Sims grabbed one of his backpack straps and pushed him ahead of her. He tried to turn around and yell at Sims to let go of him, the boy told police.
What happened next was captured by a security camera, police said.
“As the victim turned, Sims forcibly shoved him to the ground,” police wrote in the affidavit. “The victim did not touch or strike Sims before him being pushed to the ground. He states he did hold up his finger in front of Sims and yelled, “Wait a minute.”
The child suffered a minor scrape to his left knee and small scrapes to both wrists, police said.
Based on the boy’s statements and the surveillance video, Sims was arrested at the school, charged with child abuse without great bodily harm, and booked into the Broward Main Jail, records show.
She was released on a $2,000 bond in advance of her next court appearance.
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