Dog, elder neglect
Manatee, FL (US)

Incident Date: Tuesday, Jul 31, 2007
County: Manatee

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Michael Wendell Carter

A former Manatee school teacher accused of neglecting his ailing 90-year-old father will no longer be able to substitute teach for the Manatee County School District.

Michael Wendell Carter, 62, has been charged with neglecting an elderly person and animal cruelty.

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office found Charles Carter in a bed covered with blood and feces Monday. He had open sores and bruises on his body, sheriff's reports said. A dog also was also in the home, which was littered with feces, a sheriff's report said.

Sheriff's spokesman Dave Bristow described conditions in the home, in the 4900 block of 18th Street West, as "deplorable."

A sheriff's deputy overheard Michael Carter telling his father to "just die," after hearing Charles Carter plead with his son for help, reports stated.

Michael Carter taught English between Nov. 28, 2005, and May 26, 2006, at Community High School, an alternative school sharing a campus with Manatee Technical Institute, according to his district personnel file.

At the end of that school year, Carter's contract was not renewed by the school district, spokeswoman Margi Nanney said.

He continued to substitute at the high school level for the district prior to his arrest, records show.

Nanney said substitute teachers are not technically employees with benefits. Those eligible to substitute are placed on a list and work much like an independent contractor.

So Carter has not been fired, just taken off the list, Nanney said.

"He is no longer eligible to substitute within the district," said Nanney.

Nanney said Carter's case is a disturbing one for the district.

"It is disturbing when something like this happens with someone who has been in contact with the district," she said. "He will not be teaching here, so I guess let justice take its course."

A neighbor of the Carters said in the weeks before the arrest an official with the Florida Department of Children & Families Services had asked him about Charles Carter's care.

Citing confidentiality, DCF officials would not confirm whether an investigation was under way into the Carters prior to Michael Carter's arrest.

After his son's arrest, Charles Carter was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital, where he remains in stable condition, according to hospital spokesman Vernon DeSear.

Michael Carter is being held at the Manatee jail on bonds totaling $8,500.

References

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