LUNENBURG COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) -- A Kenbridge mother is upset after her 13-year-old son was allegedly struck by his teacher last week.
Nancy Green said she is troubled by the way Lunenburg County officials handled the alleged incident because her son's teacher is still on the job and no charges have been filed.
CBS 6 News took her concerns to Lunenburg leaders and the sheriff’s office. None of the officials denied the teacher hit the 13-year-old boy, but said they handled the matter appropriately and that after a thorough investigation no charges were warranted.
Green said she was stunned after she said her son's teacher phoned her last weekend to explain how the alleged incident unfolded.
“She said he didn't raise his hand. She said she was at the end of her rope and hit him," Green explained.
Green's son told CBS 6 reporter Shelby Brown that his teacher took him out of class to a teacher’s lounge to make the call, instead of the front office.
“We were in the teacher’s lounge when she was calling mamma," the boy said. "After she got off the phone with her, she said she was sorry. That she shouldn’t have done that.”
Green admitted that her son has gotten into trouble before, but says she doesn’t think he deserves what he went through.
“He’s not an angel. He’s been in trouble before. He’s a 13-year-old boy. He’s been to ISS for talking and being disruptive, but he’s working on it. He got a lot better. I don’t care what he does, you don’t hit him,” Green said.
After a meeting with the teacher and the principal, Green said she tried to press charges at the sheriff’s office and through a magistrate.
“The magistrate said I needed her name, address, social security number and her birth date. He wanted to know why I would pursue this. He had talked to the sheriff’s office and they said it was nothing to it,” Green said.
CBS 6 News Legal Analyst Todd Stone said the job of a magistrate is to look at the evidence and decide if this is a touching done in an angry, rude or vengeful manner.
The superintendent of Lunenburg County Public Schools said the district conducted a thorough investigation and took the matter seriously. But she couldn't say whether disciplinary action was taken against the teacher, because it's a personnel matter.
The school system did remove the child from that teacher’s class, but Green said that is not enough and that the teacher should face charges.
CBS 6 News contacted the teacher by phone Thursday, but she declined to comment on camera.
Lunenburg County Sheriff Arthur Townsend issued the following statement about the incident:
“The matter was referred by the school to my office. It was investigated. The mother of the juvenile attempted to obtain a warrant for assault and battery. A warrant was not issued by the magistrate, which is within his authority to do so. There are no other steps for my office to take in the matter.”
