FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Unified School District could be in deep legal trouble after a parent of a first-grader filed a lawsuit last month over allegations her special education child was caged like an animal by her teacher.

Ledelldra Brooks visited her daughter’s first-grade classroom at Viking Elementary in Late May and allegedly found her 7-year-old daughter with a soiled diaper locked in a makeshift cage made of a baby gate and crib parts, the Fresno Bee reports.

Brooks contacted police, who responded to the school and dismantled the cage, then hired attorney Peter Alfert and submitted claims against teacher Teresa MonPere and school administrators.

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A district spokeswoman told the news site school officials will not comment on the incident, but the school board is expected to take up the issue soon.

“We take these situations very seriously,” spokeswoman Micheline Golden told the Bee. “We conducted a thorough investigation consistent with our personnel procedures. I can’t share any outcome of that investigation because it is a personnel issue.”

MonPere still works for the school district, but was moved to Addicott Elementary, Golden said.

There also have not been any criminal charges filed. Police forwarded the case to the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office for possible child abuse charges, but that office declined to follow up because “there did not appear to be any intent and therefore no child abuse would have occurred,” according to police records provided to the Bee by Alfert.

Two teachers aides interviewed by police said the cage was used for students who posed a risk to themselves or classmates and wasn’t used as a punishment. Brooks’ daughter was in lock up because she allegedly scratched an aide. MonPere refused to cooperate with police based on the advice of her teachers union, the Bee reports.

Viking principal Christie “Yang … told police the enclosure, which was installed about three years ago, was merely a safety precaution. She didn’t know how often it was used, but said she’d witnessed children inside before,” according to the news site.

A public information request for administrators’ emails about the discovery, also obtained by Brooks’ attorney, show school officials quickly moved Brooks’ daughter to a different school, then searched the classrooms of all its schools looking for similar contraptions.

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Golden, of course, would not reveal whether school officials found more cages.

Regardless, special education expert Joe Bowling said even one locked cage is “totally unacceptable.”

Bowling, who heads a regional California State Council on Developmental Disabilities, told the Bee “this is not something I would put a child into and claim this is for their own protection. It’s a cage, this is what you would put a wild animal in.”

“Obviously there are people in the district that need training,” he said. “I can’t believe that somebody, an administrator walking in that room and seeing it, would allow that.”

Alfert contends Brooks’ daughter developed a fear of being along and being behind closed doors as a result of the cage treatment, and could suffer “long-lasting effects.” He filed two claims – against the teacher and administrators – last month, which is the first step toward a lawsuit, the Bee reports.

He also highlighted an email uncovered in his public information request that shows the district’s teachers are well-aware of the proper procedures for restraining a troublesome student, and that state law forbids secluded, locked isolation of students.

The email, a memo sent to staff, said teachers can restrain students or put them in time out, but isolation is not an option.

Many parents and others who commented about the story on Facebook were stunned.

“WTF? Where is all the special ed money being spent? Not on ‘teacher’ training. Not intentional? Did that cage build itself?” Laura Robey questioned.

“Shameful! This was not just thrown together by an aid during class, there was thought put into this cage,” Brian Bobbitt posted. “I hope this mother rams this down their throat with a BIG pay check to come.”

Surprisingly, some others didn’t think the cage was a big deal at all.

“I guess people shouldn’t put kids in cribs or playpens either,” Mary Rosenberg posted.

“Out in the real world, this is what happens when you assault someone,” Richard Huffaker, a high school art teacher, wrote.