SAINT PARIS — An area school fired one of its administrators after they were accused of choking a student.
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As News Center 7 reported Wednesday, Emilio Valdez has been accused of choking a student at Operation Rebirth, a Boys Christian Boarding Academy, in Saint Paris.
He is currently facing strangulation and endangering children charges, according to Champaign County Court of Common Pleas records.
News Center 7 reached out to Operation Rebirth for a comment on the accusations on Wednesday. While they initially said they would not be providing public comments due to ongoing legal proceedings, they provided an updated statement on Thursday, saying Valdez was terminated from his position at the end of March.
“On March 3, 2025, upon learning of an employee-student incident and reviewing the related evidence, the OR Board of Directors immediately placed Mr. Emilio Valdez on administrative leave, barred him from campus, and notified the appropriate authorities. Following a thorough internal review and consultation with legal counsel, Mr. Valdez’s employment was formally terminated effective March 31, 2025,” the statement read in part.
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A spokesperson for the academy also confirmed that a new director has been appointed.
“The organization is now focused on rebuilding staff capacity and preparing to reopen in the fall. We remain steadfast in our commitment to student and staff safety and to the integrity of all ongoing legal and organizational processes,” the statement read.
As previously reported, Champaign County Sheriff’s Office Captain Mike Young said this all started after kids showed up late to school.
“When the students arrived for school that day, they were late, he had a verbal interaction with one of the students and he didn’t like the student’s response, and his response to that was to grab the student by the back of the neck and then under the front of his chin and strangled him and took him to the ground,” Young said.
The sheriff’s office shared a 90-second video of the interaction with News Center 7’s Taylor Robertson.
The video, which is not yet public due to the student’s age, shows Valdez putting his hands around the 13-year-old’s neck while other students and a teacher watched. At one point, the child’s feet were off the ground.
Young said the teacher was Valdez’s wife.
Operation Rebirth confirmed on Thursday that Valdez’s wife has since voluntarily resigned from her position.
Young said students at Operation Rebirth spend the week there and go home on the weekends.
“I’m not saying they’re behavioral issues, that they can’t be in a normal school. They just thrive better in that environment, and your educator, your role model, your protector, that’s what you get from it,” Young said.
The school has “house parents” who watch over the students.
“The house parents saw it and talked with his team, they prayed about it, they talked with their board, the board addressed it and called us,” Young said.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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