No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, where 34-year-old Lacy Ann Horsting's attorney pleaded "Not Guilty" on her behalf via Zoom, to misdemeanor Child Abuse charges.
"I'm not surprised, but it's okay. She can try to fight, but everything is being brought to light. There's an army behind these children and I know that justice will be theirs," expresses Brittany Camacho, the mother of one of the alleged victims.
Horsting is a former Visalia Unified School District special education teacher.
A criminal complaint lists ten charges of child abuse with at least 5 victims between August of 2024 and June of 2025.
Ashley Hill, who now homeschool's her child, says he was in Horsting's class during his second year with VUSD. She shares he was excited for the first day of school, but everything changed shortly when she took him back for his second day of school, "As soon as he saw the school, he started crying, sobbing... I had multiple meetings with the teacher and the principal explained to him that this is not my typical behavior."
Hill continues to share, "He was coming home with multiple bruises and scratches on his body; they would say he did it to himself or that they didn't know what happened."
Camacho emotionally adds, "Some of the long-term effects that are affecting these children are that they urinate themselves, bed wetting at night, severe nail biting, they only have their fingers left because of the severe nail biting... some of the children still to this day self-isolate."
Camacho says her child, and others involved, are all non-verbal and saw a big change in her child's behavior after being a student in Horsting's class, "Incontinence, nightmares... Severe aggression like severe aggression that doesn't even make sense like strangulation, when I say severe, I mean severe attacks."
Camacho continues to share, "Don't ever doubt your children's body language and your gut instinct when you feel like something is wrong, that's a clear cry for help."
Horsting was released from the district in 2025.
In January of this year, parents say they received a victim's advocate letter from the Tulare County District Attorney's office. Some parents are just finding out about the alleged abuse.
"This is the worst I've seen. This is... This is pretty bad, I've seen isolated cases like this, but I've not seen a whole classroom impacted like this, for the amount of time that they were," says Amanda Simmons, who is representing 6 families in this case. She shares that she is also representing at least one other family in a separate case involving VUSD.
Hill adds, "This isn't something that just happens out of the blue, so I'm sure that there are countless children who have been hurt by the teacher."
In a statement, Visalia Unified School District shared, "The safety and well-being of students is a top priority of the District. The individual in question was immediately removed from the classroom as soon as the district became aware of the situation. That individual has not been employed by VUSD since last year. We remain committed to supporting our students and working with our families and staff to maintain safe learning environments."
Meanwhile, parents are hoping for justice and change.
Hill shares she hopes to see improvements in special education classrooms, especially where non-verbal students are present, "My biggest thing is that we desperately need cameras in classrooms to protect our children. That will hold people accountable."
Camacho also shares that it is faith and seeking justice that is keeping her family going, "To be able to pick up my cross and keep moving, I'm able to die to myself for these children. It's not just my son that I'm fighting for; it's for every single child that was affected and then can possibly be affected. My heart really is for every single child that does not have a voice to seek justice for them."
Horsting's next court appearance is May 27th. The trial is set to begin on June 24th.
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