An elementary school principal in Southwest Florida is under investigation after she was caught on cellphone video hitting a student with a paddle. NBC 6’s Marissa Bagg reports
An elementary school principal in Southwest Florida is under investigation after the mother of a student recorded her daughter being struck by a paddle.
The incident took place in mid-April in Clewiston, when Central Elementary School principal Melissa Carter and her assistant were in an office when the mother of a 6-year-old first grader arrived.
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
Carter had reportedly told the mother she needed to bring $50 to pay for repairs to a school computer and that her child “needed to be punished.”
After the assistant translated Carter’s words for the mother, family lawyer Brent Probinsky said the principal took out a paddle. The mother began recording the incident which included the student being struck multiple times while Carter’s assistant held the child down.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
“You better be glad you’re not my daughter, because I would spank you all the time for acting like that,” Carter said in the video.
The Hendry County Sheriff's Office received a copy of the video from the student's mother and is investigating. The Hendry County School District also received a copy of the video and placed Carter on administrative leave during its investigation.
“A principal of Central Elementary savagely and sadistically beat a child with a large paddle, a little 6-year-old, first year in school for scratching a computer," said Probinsky.
Local
Probinsky added the mother didn’t intervene at the time because she wanted evidence of what the principal was doing behind closed doors.
"I don’t want this ever to happen to another child what happened to me, and I want this teacher gone, out of the school system forever," he said, explaining how the mother felt. "She never should’ve been there and I want her prosecuted for a criminal act.”
