Macon teacher jailed for grabbing 7-year-old students, holding them against wall, cops say
A teacher at a Macon elementary school turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and was jailed on simple battery charges involving allegedly aggressively handling two 7-year-old first-graders.
Roger Edward Clark, 53, of Warner Robins, was being held in lieu of $1,300 bond at the Bibb County Jail, sheriff’s officials said in a statement.
Clark resigned last week.
The alleged episodes were said to have happened Jan. 8 at Williams Elementary School on Pursley Street in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood just west of Interstate 75.
A news release from the sheriff’s office Tuesday morning stated that “Clark aggressively handled two 7-year-old male students. It was reported that Clark aggressively snatche(d) one student from his desk, causing his feet to leave the ground. Clark then (held) this student against the wall with his feet off the ground and after he released the student, he shove(d) him causing him to fall on the ground.”
Clark allegedly carried the second student by his arms “where his feet (were) off the ground. Clark then (held) this student against the wall. When Clark released the student from the wall, he shove(d) him away.”
Sheriff’s officials didn’t say how the cases came to light, but it appears the alleged incidents may have been captured by school surveillance cameras.
A spokeswoman for Bibb schools said in an email sent to news outlets that the incident was reported to the school’s principal by another teacher.
“An investigation immediately occurred and the teacher resigned from his position” the next day, Stephanie Hartley, director of communications for the school system, said in the email. “Parents of the students involved were notified of the incident immediately.”
A sheriff’s report of the incident that was made public on Tuesday that a teacher at the school on the afternoon of Jan. 8 reported “that they had seen a first-grade teacher put hands on a first-grade student in an aggressive manner.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 10:28 AM.