Glendale : No Contest Plea to Abuse

A private school aide has pleaded no contest to charges that, while trying to maintain order aboard a bus in Glendale, he physically abused a 9-year-old boy who then briefly stopped breathing, court officials said.

Alex Samson, 22, of Los Angeles entered the plea Dec. 19 before Pasadena Superior Court Judge Jack Tso, who sentenced him to six months in jail, five years of probation and 200 hours of community service. As part of the plea agreement, abuse charges involving a second child in a separate incident were dropped, Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Nishinaka said.

Samson, who worked for the Tobinworld school in Glendale, was arrested after he disciplined a student, Derek Collins, 9, of Los Angeles, on Oct. 24 by using his weight to hold the boy down against a bus bench. The boy stopped breathing for a short time and was hospitalized for several days. Authorities have not yet determined whether he suffered brain damage, Nishinaka said.