FRESNO (CBS/AP) -- The mother of a special education student has filed a legal claim -- the precursor to a lawsuit -- against her daughter's former teacher for allegedly putting her child in a gated enclosure that the mother said amounted to a cage.

Ledelldra Brooks said she found her 7-year-old daughter wearing a dirty diaper inside the pen made from a toddler gate and a crib gate attached to bookshelves when she showed up unannounced at Fresno's Viking Elementary School in May.

Brooks called the police, who dismantled the unit.

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Viking Elementary Principal Christie Yang told officers the secured area was installed about three years ago as a safety precaution.

Fresno Unified School District spokeswoman Micheline Golden said she could not comment on a pending legal case.

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