Florida principal who spanked student will not face criminal charges TODAY 5/8/2021 Nicole Acevedo
A Florida elementary school principal did not commit a crime when she spanked a first-grade student with a wooden paddle in front of the child s mother last month, the state attorney’s office said on Friday.
Footage of the April 13 incident, which was recorded by the mother on her cellphone, was shared with news outlets, sparking criticism of Central Elementary School principal Melissa Carter s actions. However, a legal review from the Office of State Attorney Amira Fox concluded that no crime was committed by Carter after reexamining evidence and documents from other law enforcement officials who investigated the incident.
The six-year-old girl was accused of $50 of damage to computers at school
Her mom Fabiola Rivera arrived at Central Elementary in Clewiston on April 13
She filmed principal Melissa Carter spanking her child with a wooden paddle
The footage sparked uproar and Carter was under investigation by police
State Attorney Amira Fox s office said Friday Carter will not face charges
Prosecutors said the punishment did not cause harm or amount to child abuse
The child s mom had consented to her daughter being spanked by the school staffer, they said
In a confusing development, the mother of the Florida 6-year-old paddled at school is being investigated for alleged neglect at home. On April 13, the mother in question secretly filmed a Central Florida elementary school principal paddling her daughter in front of her, apparently as punishment for $50 worth of damage to a school computer.
Corporal punishment is not legal in Hendry County, where the beating took place, and Principal Melissa Carter and school clerk Cecelia Self, who held down the child, are both under investigation by the Clewiston Police Department and the Department of Child and Family Services, and the Florida State Attorneys Office is considering filing criminal charges.
Florida school district investigating recorded incident of student being paddled at elementary school
A Florida school district is investigating an incident that happened at an elementary school after a mother secretly recorded her 6-year-old being paddled on the buttocks by staff, the school district tells CNN.
The student’s mother said she received a call from Central Elementary School in Clewiston, Florida, on April 13 saying that her daughter had scratched a computer screen, according to the family’s attorney, Brent Probinsky. The mother was told to bring $50 to the school to pay for damages and that sometimes children are paddled, her lawyer said.
A review by the State Attorney’s Office has found that a Central Elementary School principal in Clewiston did not commit a crime when she paddled a 6-year-old in front of the child’s mother.
Principal Melissa Carter and Cecilia Self, a clerk at the school, were recorded by the child’s mother as Carter spanked the child with a wooden paddle three times.
The Office of the State Attorney’s Office for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit, which covers Hendry County, released a memo late Friday.
The paddling occurred on April 13 after the child damaged a computer.
According to the memo, the child’s mother gave an initial account of the incident to the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office on April 14.