Teacher taped 9-year-old student’s mouth shut at band practice

A Brooklyn middle-school teacher and band leader was arrested after he silenced a chatty student by putting duct tape over his mouth, authorities said.

Hughes is the longtime director of the popular Soul Tigers Marching Band – a nonprofit for disadvantaged youth that is run out of Intermediate School 292 in East New York. Police say the student suffered injuries when the tape was removed.

The boy said Hughes duct-taped his mouth shut because the child was talking while Hughes was talking, Rivera reported.

When Hughes finally ripped the tape away, he injured the kid’s face, police said. He claimed that at first he was going to put the tape over his own mouth but then made a decision to put it on the kid.

Instead, Hughes was allowed to leave without posting bail. A judge released him without bail yesterday, though prosecutors sought $20,000 bail.

“These charges are deeply troubling”, said Devora Kaye. He was also charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

A spokesman for the New York City Department of Education said that Hughes is not a DOE employee. Hughes revived the program in 2003 after serving in the Marines.

Under Hughes’ tutorship, the Soul Tigers gained a reputation as an outstanding band, and performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and in Africa and Central America, and was even featured in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial.