A Florida elementary school principal was caught on camera hitting a 6-year-old student with a paddle. The horrifying incident was said to have been filmed by the student’s mother, according to local news affiliate WINK-TV, with the principal seen bending the child over before spanking her with the wooden plank. This was said to have been punishment for alleged damage the child caused to one of the school’s computers.
A 6yo child in FL. was beaten by her school principal, in front of her mother, for damage she allegedly caused to a computer. ⚠️ this video is graphic. It’s infuriating, outrageous & shocking & the principal is now under criminal investigation. https://t.co/M3cIZeTMKa pic.twitter.com/HPAcbYXlXe
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) May 2, 2021
- Melissa Carter, head of Central Elementary School in Clewiston, was the employee hitting the child. The child’s mother said she was called by the school and told that her daughter had caused $50 worth of damage to one of the school’s computers. When she went down to the school, she found her daughter in Carter’s office along with a school clerk, which is where the beating took place.
- The child’s mother believes the principal acted out of “hatred.” As the unnamed woman told WINK-TV in Spanish following the incident, “The hatred with which she hit my daughter, I mean it was a hatred that, really I’ve never hit my daughter like she hit her. I had never hit her.” She said she began filming covertly after realizing there were no surveillance cameras around and that authorities likely wouldn’t believe her without it being on camera.
- The mother wanted others to know what happens at the school. “Nobody would have believed me,” she said of hiding her phone in her purse as the punishment took place. “I sacrificed my daughter, so all parents can realize what’s happening in this school.” She added that she took her daughter to the doctor after the beating so that there was official documentation of the red marks and bruising left on her. “I’m going to get justice for my daughter because if I could not do it in front of her, I’m going to do it with justice,” she said.
- The incident is now being investigated by authorities. The Clewiston Police Department and the Department of Children and Families are said to be looking into the incident, while the State Attorney’s Office is said to be considering bringing charges against the principal and clerk. Bret Provinsky, a lawyer for the family, said: “That’s aggravated battery. They’re using a weapon that can cause severe physical, harm. The child is terrified, she feels vulnerable. There’s nothing she can do in the hands of these adults, who treated her so brutally, savagely, sadistically.”
