Teacher accused of putting kids in "monster closet"

FRESNO, California

"I don't like going in the closet," Kendrick said. "Because it is scary."

Kendrick, 4, says his teacher put him a dark, janitorial closet and told him there was a monster inside.

The teacher at Varnett Charter School near Houston, Texas put misbehaving children in the closet for five minutes at a time.

According to Kendrick, the teacher's aide kept the closet door closed with her feet while children cried inside. Kendrick says he was so scared he vomited.

Kendrick's mother, Kelicia said, "You are taking a 4-year-old and putting them in a dark closet. That's like torture. That's a torture even to an adult that is afraid of the dark. Who locks anybody in a closet?"

Superintendent Dr. Annette Cluff said, "I was appalled, and because I was not here to immediately investigate that made me more infuriated to know that this had happened."

The teacher and the aide were immediately suspended without pay and the district announced both have been terminated.

What do you think? Did they deserve to be fired?

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