A second endangering children charge was dismissed.
Sorrells is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 16.
He was accused of hitting Braylen Tootle, a Rosa Parks Early Childhood Learning Center student on Aug. 21, 2023.
Video from the school showed Sorrells pulling Braylen in a wagon down a hallway when the boy got out and started running. Sorrells could be seen on the footage knocking the boy on the ground and then picking him up by the ankles.
Another employee saw the incident and took Braylen from Sorrells.
Braylen was 3 at the time.
His parents, Robert Tootle and Taneshia Lindsay, said they weren’t informed of the incident until they picked up Braylen from school.
“They shouldn’t have sent him home pending investigation,” Lindsay previously said. “He should have left that school in handcuffs.”
Tootle and Lindsay in July announced a civil lawsuit filed against Sorrells and Dayton Public Schools. They said they felt disrespected and can’t trust the school to take care of their son.
“I’ve never talked to anybody personally that apologized or took responsibility for it,” Lindsay said. “Nobody’s tried to build that trust back up to bring my son back into the school district.”
Attorney Michael L. Wright, a partner at Wright & Schulte who is representing the family, said they hope the lawsuit will give them more answers about what happened to Braylen. He also expressed concerns about Sorrells being found incompetent to stand trial earlier this year.
“We were interested in seeing who was evaluating this employee, what steps they took to determine whether or not he was able to do the job that he was hired to do,” he said.
A psychiatric report submitted to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court earlier this year determined Sorrells could potentially be restored to competency with treatment. In August, Judge Elizabeth Ellis determined Sorrells was competent to stand trial based on an additional psychiatric report.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
About the Author