A federal lawsuit alleges a nine-year-old girl with Down Syndrome was the victim of years of physical and emotional abuse while attending public school in Bertha in central Minnesota. Julie Denny is suing on behalf of her daughter, and attorney Margaret Kane says because the situation the girl “ended up starting to urinate on herself to express her anxiety and stress, and a physician said she can’t go back to this environment: it’s too stressful, it’s damaging her. That was before we knew that the paraprofessional evidently was slapping her.” Kane says the girl was abused by at least three paraprofessionals and one pleaded guilty to criminal charges. The Bertha-Hewitt School District’s attorney has not been reachable for comment.