Elementary school teacher accused of smacking student in the face to wake child up
SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. (WIS/Gray News) - A South Carolina teacher is accused of hitting a student in the face.
According to the Sumter County public index, Sharon Louise Benson was arrested on Tuesday.
An incident report stated that on Jan. 6 Benson smacked the student in the face twice in an attempt to get them to wake up.
The report goes on to say that the child told authorities that they felt a slap to the side of the face before falling to the floor and hitting their head.
On Jan. 9 law enforcement from the Sumter Police Department responded to Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital and spoke with the child and their aunt in the emergency room.
According to the department, the aunt told police she was not notified of the incident until Jan. 8.
“This should never happen in South Carolina and this should never happen to anyone’s child in any school anywhere in the world,” Todd Rutherford, who is representing the victim’s family, said. “For a child to literally be sitting and be assaulted by a teacher so hard that they fall to the floor, it’s disturbing.”
Police said they went to Lemira Elementary School and spoke with the principal. They were able to review security footage which showed the student being pushed into a chair from a classroom into the hallway.
The incident report also stated that footage showed Benson leaving the classroom and tapping the student trying to wake them up.
Benson then allegedly smacked the student on the right side of the face two times, causing them to fall off the chair and onto the ground.
Represeeantvies with the Sumter School District said Benson was placed on istrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.
The school district said she ended up reg on Jan. 10.
“The conduct of this employee is not indicative of Sumter School District’s values and how we serve children. On Jan. 7, she was placed on istrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, and she resigned on Jan. 10,” the school district shared in a statement.
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