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Brother says teacher is a 'loving mother'; But Bradenton police describe a violent woman who abused her child.(A SECTION)
Byline: Courtney Cairns Pastor and Timothy O'Hara STAFF WRITERS
In class, Harllee Middle School teacher Wanda Bennett was caring and patient with emotionally handicapped children who sometimes were difficult to control.
But when the last bell rang and she went home, the motherly veneer came off, police say, and her own children experienced a violent side of her that no one else knew.
A violent side that would hospitalize one of her four children for 10 days and lead to her arrest, Bradenton police detectives say.
About two weeks ago, her brother, Bruce Bennett, got a strange midafternoon call from her.
Wanda Bennett sounded down. They swapped "how are yous" and then she said that her 4-year-old son was in the hospital.
"He's going in and out of consciousness," Bruce Bennett recalled his sister saying. "They're worried about sores on his head."
Bruce Bennett knew she loved children, loved them enough …
