PALM BEACH POST

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA

A fight between two St. Lucie West Centennial High students ended with the Thursday arrest of a mother who, her daughter told authorities, urged the girl to "defend" herself.

Now, Roseana Scaduto, a 31-year-old private school teacher, faces two charges of child abuse after a school resource officer saw video of the fight taken by a student using a cellphone camera.

enlarge Scaduto: Faces two charges of child abuse for her role. CBS 12 video report .

Students at the high school on Cashmere Boulevard spent Thursday passing the fight footage from one cellphone to another.

"Everyone's been sending it through text messages and stuff," said a junior after school let out.

"They were pulling each other's hair," the girl said of what she saw on the video. "You just saw everything, it was perfectly clear."

Neither Scaduto, nor her family, could be reached for comment.

Students told a St. Lucie County sheriff's detective that Scaduto and her daughter showed up at a parking lot in McChesney Park, adjacent to the school, for a fight that had been "previously arranged." Scaduto watched as the teens fought shortly before 7 a.m., the students said, and then intervened when her daughter was on the ground and the other girl on top of her.

After the mother separated the girls, her daughter attacked her opponent and struck her several times, a sheriff's report states.

With her daughter gaining the advantage, Scaduto began cheering her on, witnesses reported, and said things such as "kick her ass" and "don't let her hit you like that."

When the fight ended, Scaduto and her daughter left in their car, the report said.

Later, Scaduto and her daughter returned to the school to speak with an administrator, and the mother was taken into custody.

The daughter told a detective she had been warning her mother before they got to the school that morning that she was going to "get suspended" for the fight. But Scaduto told her to "defend yourself" and brought the girl to the parking lot, the report said.

During questioning, Scaduto denied prodding the fight and requested an attorney, according to the report.

While Scaduto was at the detective bureau, her husband showed up and asked to speak with her and his daughter. Authorities monitored the meeting and heard Scaduto's husband tell her that she was being accused of encouraging the fight.

"Well — I did," officials heard Scaduto say.

Scaduto was released from the St. Lucie County jail on Thursday after posting $5,000 bond.

Comments (4)

thesarge: ... Put the dumb bitch in a tough women's prison, with the rumor that she is a snitch. It won't take long for her to sate her desire for fighting. 1 May 09, 2008 igno rant: ... : http://chipwhit thesarge, I've done some dumb things in my life but never something this stupid. 2 May 09, 2008 code_dude1: ... My 4'9" 85 pound 8th grade daughter took on a 6'1" 160 pound 11th grader. She kicked his ass. I went to school and told the powers that beto pissoff. She was doing what I told her to do, defend her self. If they didnt like to bad. He started it, she finished it. 3 May 11, 2008 hannah: ... Its true that you should instil in your kids they should protect themselves. Driving your child to a fight and acting the way she was acting as a parent is wrong. She (mom) was acting like a street thug. I don't want her teaching my kids..ever... 4 May 18, 2008

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