Inset: Robin Popour (Delta Schoolcraft Intermediate School District). Background: The Learning Center in Michigan, where Popour worked as a teacher aide (Google Maps).
A 54-year-old teacher aide in Michigan is accused of slamming a 13-year-old special-needs student into a classroom window — then telling her co-workers the child "deserved it."
Robin Popour is charged with one count of third-degree child abuse in connection with the December 2025 incident.
The incident occurred Dec. 17 near the end of the day inside a classroom at The Learning Center, a school in Delta County that serves students with moderate to severe impairments, ABC affiliate WBUP in Ishpeming, Michigan, reported, citing the police report.
Three aides reportedly witnessed the incident and described a similar sequence of events involving Popour and the teenage boy, who is described as being mostly nonverbal and developmentally closer to a 5-year-old.
One aide said the child was exhibiting repetitive behavior and making pinching motions toward Popour, who allegedly threatened to slap the student.
From the report:
[The student] then began to make pinching motions at [Popour].
[Popour] then told him, if you pinch me I will slap your hand. He then continued to pinch at her and actually pinched her hands a couple of times. Then [Popour] got inches from his face and screamed at him to stay seated.
[The student] then stood up and made pinching motions toward [Popour's] hands. [Popour] then grabbed [the student] by his shoulders and slammed him into the window. [He] froze briefly then grabbed onto [Popour's] arms and was digging his nails into her arms.
Aides said that after the altercation, they heard Popour make alarming remarks.
"I don't give a f— if I left marks on him," one aide recalled her saying. Another told investigators Popour stated, "I don't care if I got him. He deserved it."
The three aides who claimed to have witnessed the alleged abuse all filed incident reports with the school district the following day.
The aides also reportedly emphasized that Popour had previously made troubling comments about the victim.
"Robin has said many times throughout the year, she does not like him, has no use for him, and if he ever touches her she will lose her job and hit him back," one aide reportedly told police.
Another added that Popour talked "openly in the classroom about the things she would do" if the child hurt her, saying it seemed as though Popour "was almost looking for something like this to happen."
School officials later acknowledged the reports raised concerns about internal communication and staff training.
"What it taught us is that moving forward, we needed to provide some additional training about appropriate reporting and making [staff] feel empowered to be able to report those things," Superintendent Kristina Hansen said.
She added the incident was "well outside of anything that's happened [here] before," emphasizing that "student safety is always at the forefront."
Following a preliminary hearing in January, 94th District Judge Steve Parks found there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to circuit court. It was not immediately clear when Popour was scheduled to make her next court appearance.
If convicted, Popour faces a maximum sentence of up to two years in prison.
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