Teacher Guilty of Abuse in Hot Sauce Soda Case
Here's an instance where loving hot sauce goes a bit too far
By TODD WRIGHT
Updated 8:57 AM EDT, Wed, Sep 23, 2009
Sylvia Guadalupe Tagle never thought her love of hot sauce would get her in hot water, but that's where the teacher has ended up.
Tagle was found guilty of abuse yesterday in a Miami-Dade court after she put Tabasco in her soda and allowed students to drink it in 2007.
Prosecutors claimed it was a devious plot to teach her special needs students a tough lesson about taking things off her desk. In the eyes of the law, that's child abuse.
Tagle, 50, claimed it's just how she likes her coke. Flaming hot.
"Because I love it. I like it. That's our culture. We eat hot sauce a lot -- my soda, my food, my salad," Tagle testified yesterday.
We must admit, dumping a bottle of hot sauce in a soda does sound like a college prank, but there are people who do have an affinity for the hot stuff. Maybe she puts jalapenos in her Fruit Loops. Who knows?
Tagle, who is from Mexico, said putting hot sauce on food is part of the culture.
But spiking sodas is just one of the allegations against the 25-year veteran of the Miami-Dade School system.
An aide in her class also claims Tagle pulled a student's hair to make them sit down and ordered people not to change another student's diaper if they soiled it in class without telling someone.
Tagle has already lost her job over the issue, and now she'll be losing her freedom.
She faces a maximum of five years in prison, and will be sentenced on Oct. 7.
First Published: Sep 22, 2009 3:19 PM EDT
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