A Florida elementary school teacher has been fired and arrested for allegedly hitting students in her special needs class. Local law enforcement has charged her with a felony count of child abuse, saying, the department takes these types of cases “very seriously.”
The teacher, Adrean Johnson, was hired by Harns Marsh Elementary just six months before another teacher observed her inappropriate behavior and reported her to the administration, NBC 2 reports.
On Wednesday, March 29, a teacher says she witnessed Johnson, 39, hitting a child and reported the disturbing incident to the school resource officer.
The school called authorities, who launched an investigation after removing Johnson from the classroom. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office interviewed students and teachers on the campus and gathered evidence regarding Johnson’s classroom conduct.
“Our Special Victims Unit worked with the Lee County School District to address this situation immediately and the suspect has been charged accordingly,” Sheriff Carmine Marceno said.
Adding, “We take this type of behavior very seriously, especially involving children.”
An investigation said they found the teacher had slapped a child in the face with her bare hand. It also showed she disciplined her grammar school students by hitting them on the legs and back and using a ruler to strike them on their buttocks, according to Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
Students interviewed by the Special Victim’s Unit detectives called the ruler she used when they were misbehaving the “pow pow stick.”
The investigation concluded there were three children abused by the teacher. However, only two families say they will go forward with the child abuse charges.
One of Johnson’s alleged victims did have documented behavioral issues and still wears diapers. This child, whose name is being withheld because of his/her age, never told his/her grandmother about the abuse. She became aware…
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