Plea Agreement Nets Guilty Verdict to Reduced Charge Against Former Hilda J Barbour Pre-School Teacher Kayla Bennett

The final of six charges against former Hilda J. Barbour pre-school teacher Kayla Ann Bennett related to allegations of verbal and physical abuse of two of her 3 to 4-year-old students was resolved by plea agreement Thursday morning, April 4, in Warren County Circuit Court. It was a multi-faceted agreement reached after several motions and discussion between defense counsel Thomas Plofchan and Commonwealth’s Attorney John Bell before Judge Daryl Funk.

Bennett was scheduled for a jury trial on a second felony count of Cruelty/Injure a Child on the Circuit Court morning docket. As previously reported four misdemeanor counts of  of Assault and Battery and another felony count of Child Cruelty, the latter scheduled for the April 2nd docket, had previously been dismissed (Nolle Prosequi or nul pross) by the prosecution due to a combination of witness availabilities and running up against speedy trial statutes.

Following a 40-minute adjournment to allow discussion between counsels, at 10:20 a.m. the pre-trial hearing reconvened with the pool of potential jurors remaining in the second-floor hallway. Judge Funk referenced a “three-page handwritten plea agreement” that began with a motion to amend the indictment from a felony to a misdemeanor charge of abusive Child Neglect/in Need of Services to which Bennett, still asserting her innocence, would enter a Not Guilty plea to. However, after a summary of the evidence that would have been brought at trial by both sides, the defendant acknowledged the Commonwealth’s evidence related to verbal abuse and an alleged hand slap across a student’s face the Commonwealth contended was witnessed by a teacher’s aide, defendant Bennett acknowledged “the risk” of a guilty verdict at trial in accepting the agreement.

And in fact, the plea agreement included the rendering of a guilty verdict to the reduced charge by Judge Funk, after which a sentence of six months in jail, all suspended, with a 12-month probation period of good behavior attached as a condition of the suspended jail sentence. Bennett would also be responsible for court costs for the day’s hearing. An additional condition of not applying for a future teaching job in Warren County was also accepted by the defendant. And the conviction on her record would seem to be a roadblock to future teaching employment in general.

The WC Courthouse saw, not only an agreed-upon conviction to a lesser charge against Kayla Bennett, but also some parental dissatisfaction with that plea agreement resolution of the Hilda J Barbour pre-school student abuse allegation against the former teacher. Royal Examiner File Photo

During the summary of evidence that would have been presented at trial, defense counsel Plofchan noted he would have challenged the credibility of the prosecution’s main witness, a teacher’s aide identified as Cassandra Carter. He asserted that the aide was to be removed from her position in Bennett’s classroom and consequently held a grudge against the teacher. Thus the aide had a motive to fabricate the cursing and slapping incident and general negative portrayal of Bennett’s classroom conduct, the defense would contend.

The Commonwealth countered that teacher’s aide Carter would testify that during the time-frame of the alleged abusive behavior Bennett was having an increasingly difficult time coping with her classroom environment, often losing her temper and using abusive language toward students.

After querying the defendant on her understanding of all elements of the plea agreement, and the summarizing of those elements by counsels, at 10:50 a.m. a half hour after court was reconvened to review the agreement, Judge Funk accepted Bennett’s not-guilty plea to the reduced charge and imposed the guilty verdict with the conditions as described above.

That the plea agreement was not popular with at least one spectator became apparent with several loud verbal outbursts directed at Commonwealth’s Attorney Bell, then at deputies asked to remove him from the courtroom. That man later verified to this reporter that he was an involved parent. Following resolution of the Bennett plea agreement, the man was escorted back into the courtroom by deputies and seated at the now empty defense table. Judge Funk called his behavior “unacceptable” and said he was lucky not to be exiting this time through the side door to jail to serve a 10-day sentence (all suspended) the court was imposing on him for Contempt of Court, along with a $100 fine, not suspended, to be paid by May 8.

As previously reported, past courtroom discussion and related filings and public school releases on the allegations indicated the charges against Bennett revolved around a parental belief the teacher initiated verbal and physically abusive conduct against two of her special needs, pre-school students aged 3 to 4 years, with the incidents occurring “between January 4 through May 5” of 2023. Bennett taught a pre-school class of 20 children ages 2 to 5, with most children 3-to-4 years old. Half of Bennett’s class were considered Special Needs students.