Security guard at Pueblo middle school charged with child abuse after incident
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Pueblo Middle School Security guard faces a child abuse charge after allegedly placing a student in a headlock and taking the child to the ground this week, according to court documents obtained by 13 Investigates.
Brendan Killingsworth, 27, was arrested Wednesday one day after the incident occurred at Ersilia Cruz Middle which is a part of the Chavez Huerta Prep campus.
According to court records, Killingsworth was working security at the middle school when the underage student yelled, "Why are you looking at me stupid?" Soon after, court records state the altercation began.
After reviewing the security video of the incident, Pueblo Police say Killingsworth put the student in a headlock, used a leg sweep, and took the student to the ground.
The student wasn't severely injured, they did have a few scrapes. The student declined any medical treatment after the incident, according to the court document.
Afterward, Killingsworth was escorted off the campus by administrators and later resigned from his position at DC Security. Killingsworth worked for DC Security for a little more than three weeks.
“This was totally terrible judgment on the side of the operator,” said Dan Corsentino, the owner of DC Security. “Even if this young man may have used derogatory language, profanity, or the F word to the operator, they shouldn’t automatically engage over a type of verbal abuse or verbal criticism.”
Ersillia Cruz Middle School told Pueblo Police there were multiple complaints where Killingsworth appeared aggressive towards students, even snatching phones out of students' hands. Corsentino says he was never made aware of those complaints.
Killingsworth declined an on-camera interview, however, he did speak with 13 Investigates over the phone and provided a statement.
“I’m never working security again, and shouldn’t have been hired in the first place. I’m deeply sorry,” Killingsworth told KRDO.
The former security guard added that he had no backup on Tuesday, saying there are usually one or two other security operators on campus in case assistance is needed. Killingsworth also says DC Security never properly trained him prior to placing him at the school to serve as a security operator.
“I would agree with him," said Corsentino when asked about the lack of training Killingsworth says he received. "I would actually agree with him, to some degree, [but] with an individual that uses poor judgement and no common sense, even if he had the training, it’s unpredictable as to whether or not that would’ve mitigated the situation.”
Corsentino says his team takes full responsibility for the incident and he has personally apologized to the student's family. He says DC Security deals with multiple incidents every day and a majority of the incidents have a positive outcome.
13 Investigates reached out to Chávez Huerta Prepatory Academy. However, officials say they declined to comment and cannot discuss a current investigation or a personal matter.
