CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Two assault charges against Kathleen Harlow, a special education teacher in Chesterfield County, have been dropped. Earlier this year, Harlow became the second teacher at Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy to face allegations of assaulting young children.
According to an affidavit filed by police, during an incident on April 13, 2023, Harlow was accused of grabbing a child's hair in a ball and letting go in a way that caused the child to fall face-down on the ground. The court documents stated that Harlow said she suffered a concussion from the child head-butting her.
A judge found Harlow not guilty on an assault charge related to that incident.
Then, in another incident on December 8, 2022, police said in court documents that Harlow gave a five-year-old student an "illegal pop on the butt" and later admitted to the school administration that she spanked the child.
Though Harlow pleaded not guilty to an assault charge related to that incident, a judge determined the facts of the case were sufficient to find Harlow guilty of assault.
However, the judge deferred a final decision after Harlow agreed to complete 25 hours of community service and commit no further offenses.
During the dispositional hearing on Thursday, December 14, 2023, the judge dismissed the charge.
CBS 6 reporter Tyler Layne spoke to Harlow after the hearing, but Harlow declined to comment on the case, only emphasizing that the case had been dismissed.
Harlow is no longer an employee of Chesterfield Public Schools, a district spokesperson confirmed.
The accusations against Harlow came on the heels of allegations against Lisa Harbilas, another preschool teacher at Chester Early Childhood Learning Academy, who assaulted special needs preschool students.
According to court documents filed by police, Harbilas reportedly pulled children's hair, spanked them, slapped their faces, and grabbed their necks in November 2022.
During a hearing in July 2023, Harbilas was found guilty of five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The school never reported any of Harbilas' offenses, or the spanking incident involving Harlow, to Chesterfield Police. The school did, however, report the incidents to Chesterfield Child Protective Services (CPS).
CPS never referred any of those reports to Chesterfield Police.
Law enforcement only learned of them after a concerned parent came forward.
A CBS 6 investigation into failures to report cases of alleged child abuse led to Chesterfield CPS changing its reporting policies and procedures.
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