Former Special Needs Educator Indicted On Child Abuse Charges

According to the DA’s office, the alleged abuse took place at the hands of Melanie Pickens between 2004 and 2007 at Hopewell Middle School in Alpharetta.

A special needs teacher, Pickens is accused of abusing five students, all of whom were unable to talk, according to the DA.

Abuses include pushing, shoving into lockers and/or left in isolation for hours on end.

Calling it a first step towards justice, Gerald Rose is praising the DA’s office.

“It’s way overdue but I’m excited. The protest we were doing every week paid off. At the same time, we still have a long way to go.”

Rose is the president of the Atlanta-based human rights organization New Order.

The group has been advocating for criminal charges to be filed against Melanie Pickens and another teacher.

New Order first became involved after the death of Aaron Hatcher.

The special needs student suffered from muscular dystrophy and cerebral palsy.

While Aaron’s parents believe another teacher’s action lead to his death, he was a student in Melanie Pickens’ class.

Ronald Hatcher is Aaron’s father and says he hope there are more charges to come for others.

“They’re only getting an indictment just for Melanie Pickens. It’s a list of people that where involved in this.  I feel good about what they’re doing in the beginning but I hope this is not the end.”

Hatcher says the Fulton County Schools should have removed teachers like Pickens based on a history of accusations.

Earlier this year, Hatcher and his wife filed a civil lawsuit against the Fulton County school system, its school board, several educators and district superintendent Robert Avossa.

Pickens, who left the district in 2007, must now turn herself in.

A grand jury warrant has been issued for her arrest.

Fulton County Schools issued the following statement:

Fulton County Schools shares the community’s concerns regarding the indictment of Melanie Pickens. This alleged behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated in this school system. The district has put processes into place to make sure behavior of this nature never happens again. We have been cooperative with the district attorney’s office from the beginning to assist with this case and feel confident that Ms. Pickens will be held accountable. We will continue to hold staff to a high standard to keep our students safe.