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Teacher's aide charged with kicking, sexually assaulting special-needs student at Hyde Park high school

Boston Police report arresting an aide at the Boston Community Leadership Academy, 655 Metropolitan Ave., this afternoon.

Thomas Burke, 57, of Roslindale, was arrested around 12:40 p.m. on charges of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon (shod foot) and indecent assault and battery on a special-needs person.

BPS provided the text of the message Headmaster Brett Dickens read to parents in phone calls today:

Hello, this is BCLA Headmaster Brett Dickens calling with some important information. Earlier today we received a report that a non-teaching staff member may have been acting in an inappropriate manner with a student. This is not something we ever tolerate and we immediately contacted authorities, which launched an investigation right away. We also contacted the student's family so they are aware. The staff member in question has been removed, arrested and charged, and will not be returning. As you know we demand excellence from every member of our school team. This is not the kind of news I wanted to be sharing on the first night of winter break - but I want to make sure you are kept informed of issues you need to know about. If you have questions during break while we are closed, you can call the Superintendent’s Office at 617-635-9050, and we of course will be here for you as soon as we return from break. Thanks for listening, and have a very happy holiday.

Innocent, etc.

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Comments

Congrats Adam, you win the (dubious) award for "Most heebe-jeebie Inducing Headline".

Sick, sick, sick. I hope the student get better care going forward. :(

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With the headline.

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To something less specific, but still awful.

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What a self-serving headline. Shame on you for making this about your "creativity" and not about this horrible incident.

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What a self-serving comment. Shame on you for making this about you faux outrage and not about this horrible incident.

Seriously - he changed it. Eff off.

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touche - douche.

I don't know about you, but I really think it is disrespectful to think about a special needs students and "fingering". I was pointing out that people are talking about the headline and not the actual story, where the real focus should be!

So, let's not forget about the student and this life-altering event.

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Yes, in general, I like to get creative with headlines, but this was not one of those cases (any more than with any other awful crime I write about - I try to play those stories straight). I was just trying to make a point of just what an awful thing this guy is charged with - "indecent assault and battery" is kind of vague.

But some non-anonymous people told me it went too far, so I changed it.

If you're upset with the current headline, I don't know what to say, except to ask what your headline would be.

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it's your website, write whatever the fuck you want. Some one doesn't like it, there's always the Herald and wall to wall Whitey to comment about.

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indecent assault and battery is vague, but "fingering" is not grounded in fact...yet. Unless you know something more than is being reported right now. That's one of my issues. The other issue has been addressed by changing the headline that was obviously wrong. Just because it has been changed, does it mean that I can't comment on it? I was making the point that it took away from the story itself. Cool attack guys. I will go "eff off" now.

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