Blair Middle School Security Guard Fired After Forcing Pasadena Student to Duct Tape Mouth Shut

A security guard at Blair Middle School in Pasadena has been fired after allegedly forcing an 11-year-old girl to put duct tape over her mouth because she was being “too loud during recess,” school officials and the girl’s father told reporters Friday.

Ricardo Hurtado told Fox 11 News that his daughter Noemi, a sixth-grader, was playing with friends during a lunch break on March 26 when a female security guard asked her to quiet down.

According to Hurtado, the guard then sat his daughter down and told her “to put on the duct tape on her mouth, or she’d do it for her.”

“She was playing with her friends and being a little too loud. She was asked to stop once and she didn’t, I guess, and continued to play,” Hurtado told KTLA.

The security guard reportedly walked Noemi from the playground across the street to her next class and instructed the teacher to keep the tape on.

“She had the nerve to state to the teacher that she shouldn’t take off the tape because she has a hard time being quiet,” Hurtado told media at a press conference yesterday.

Hurtado told KCBS News that the security guard “humiliated his daughter further by forcing her to walk through campus with the duct tape.”

The incident was witnessed by the head of security at the school, identified only as “Julio,” who intervened by removing the girl from class and taking her to the principal’s office, multiple news outlets reported.

“Luckily, Julio, the head security guard here saw what happened,” Hurtado. “He addressed the matter, pulled my little girl out of class and told her she wasn’t in trouble.”

Pasadena Unified School District officials confirmed to Fox 11 that the district no longer employs the security guard.

“The safety and well-being of our students are our top priority. We are aware of allegations involving a former substitute security officer. This individual is no longer employed by the district,” the school district said in a statement provided to multiple news outlets.

The district also noted it is “cooperating fully with the Pasadena Police Department” and is “committed to maintaining a safe and supportive environment for our students.”

Hurtado and his daughter held a press conference yesterday outside Blair Middle School alongside community activist Najee Ali, according to KTLA.

Hurtado has expressed that he wants more severe consequences for the former security guard.

“I want to see it on her record to show she’s not allowed to work with children anymore,” he told KCBS.