Teacher, 26, 'forced four-year-old preschoolers to strip naked and stand in a closet for 10 humiliating minutes as punishment for misbehaving - as another instructor watched and failed to report it' (3 Pics)

An Illinois preschool teacher has been placed on administrative leave after they allegedly punished their toddler students by making them strip off their clothes and stand naked in a closet for misbehaving.

The unnamed 26-year-old teacher was given paid leave after police were alerted about the disturbing punishment at the Head Start preschool program operated by Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis.  

The shocking discipline had reportedly been taking place since early February and police were notified about the allegations last week.

A second teacher, 41, was also given leave for allegedly witnessing the reported punishment and failing to report the teacher.   

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Two preschool teachers have been placed on paid administrative after a 26-year-old instructor alleged punished preschool students by making them stand naked in a closet for 10 minutes, and another teacher saw it and failed to report them 

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The horrific incident took place at a Head Start preschool program located at the Southern Illinois University in East St. Louis, Illinois (above)

The teacher who allegedly led the punishment had worked at the program for three years.  The second instructor who witnessed the alleged incident and didn't report it had worked with the program for the past five years. 

Police say misbehaving four and five-year-old students in the preschool class were told to take off their clothes and stand naked in a closet for up to 10 humiliating minutes.  

A parent complained about the discipline after hearing stories from her son, leading police to get involved.  

'Children would misbehave in class and the teacher would have them disrobe and stand them, make them stand inside a closet for five or 10 minutes as their discipline. Then they would redress and join the class,'  Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Chief Kevin Schmoll, said to KMOV4.

The sheriff added that four out of the 20 students in the class were forced to go through the punishment.   

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The disturbing discipline had been allegedly taking place at the preschool since early February but Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Police Chief Kevin Schmoll (above) was notified about the allegations last week

'We felt that was very inappropriate and possible there’s some criminal action and some charges could come from this,' Schmoll said.

'The little boy who first reported it was very brave for coming forward. That is how we were able to discover this in the first place,' he added. 

Schmoll said both teachers admitted to investigators that nudity was used as a discipline technique in that classroom, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

This week the school sent a letter home to parents to alert them of the 'child safety violation' that had occured in the classroom. 

It said: 'Under no circumstances does the program condone or tolerate inappropriate treatment towards children, family or staff.'

The children involved with the punishment will be interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center in Belleville in two weeks and a representative with the St. Clair County State's Attorney's office will be present and is expected to review the case for possible charges.

The sickening reports sent shock waves rippling through the East St. Louis community. 

'As a mother myself, I can't believe they would let something like this go on,' local Lakysha Jeffries said to News 4. 

'Something needs to be done to the teachers as far as what's going on,' East St. Louis resident Marquis Ginger echoed.