A Florida High School teacher has been arrested and charged with child abuse after he was caught on camera lifting a student by his shirt and neck, before throwing him to the ground, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The 26-year-old employee, Christopher Ferguson, was booked into the Osceola County Jail on child abuse charges, according to deputies.
The Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call reporting a fight between a student and his teacher at the Tohopekaliga High School in Kissimmee, Florida, on April 4. When deputies arrived and asked what caused the altercation, the student said he was talking to one of his classmates and said a racial slur.
Ferguson said he told the student he could not talk like that and asked him to leave the classroom. The student left the classroom and waited outside for his girlfriend until class was over.
The student said he told his girlfriend that Ferguson was “in his feelings.” According to deputies, Ferguson overhead what the student was telling his girlfriend and asked him to come back and repeat what he just said. When the student repeated what he said, Ferguson grabbed him by the shirt and neck, lifted him up to the ceiling, before slamming him to the ground.
Deputies said the student had red marks on his chest and neck. The gruesome incident was recorded on video, which the Sheriff’s Office released on Thursday afternoon.
“The climate that we’re in, racial tensions are high but at no point in time do I think it’s okay for an adult to put their hands on a child,” said Leanne Criswell whose three children attend the school. “Children are very naive, they’re very ignorant until they’re wise. So, a lot of things spew out of their mouths. As adults, we’re supposed to know better, we’re supposed to teach them better, and we can’t teach them better if we are mishandling them.”
Ferguson has been released from jail after posting a $1,000 bond, court records show.
After the incident, Ferguson, who had started working for the school five days ago, resigned. The victim’s parents were notified about the incident.
