A Cleveland Heights High School student is in jail, accused of recording video of a special needs student using the bathroom and then posting it to Facebook.
Amaru Shabazz, 18, is charged with disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a first degree misdemeanor. The incident happened February 7 and involved a intellectually-disabled 17-year-old boy.
A University Heights Police Department spokesman said the video had been removed from Facebook.
A Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District spokesperson told News 5, "The District is aware of the incident and has disciplined the student who posted the video in accordance with our code of conduct. Our security personnel also contacted the University Heights police department when they learned of the incident. We are cooperating with UHPD as they investigate the incident.”
When reached for comment, the victim’s parents referred News 5 to a family friend, Sherdina Williams, who said they were “devastated."
“You have a medically-fragile and also cognitively-delayed young man,” Williams said. “ It’s cruel. It’s bullying. It’s wrong."
On Tuesday, attempts to reach Shabazz and his parents by phone and in person were unsuccessful.
Shabazz was also arrested in January, accused of robbing the Subway restaurant at 13888 Cedar Road in University Heights on January 2.
In that case, a Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted Shabazz on charges or robbery, kidnapping and aggravated theft, but he missed his February 10 arraignment because of his most recent arrest.
As of Tuesday, Shabazz was being held in the University Heights jail on a $5,000 bond.
