A Sumter woman, and now former educator, was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to children after a video showed her reportedly smacking a sleeping student.
According to an incident report obtained from Sumter Police Department, on Thursday, Jan. 9, officers responded to Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital, where a male child and his relative advised them of an incident that occurred at Lemira Elementary School on Monday, Jan. 6.
The relative explained the child was sleeping in class and a teacher, who was not identified in the incident report, attempted to wake him. The teacher then pushed the office chair that contained the sleeping child to Sharon Benson’s classroom. Benson came out of her classroom and allegedly smacked the child in the face twice to wake him, according to the incident report.
When officers spoke to the child, he explained he was tired from the holiday break and did fall asleep. He felt Benson poking his chest lightly multiple times before he felt a slap to the left side of his face and fell to the floor where he hit his head, the report stated.
Officers arrived at Lemira to review video footage of the incident and speak with the unidentified teacher.
According to the report, the teacher attempted to wake the sleeping child multiple times inside the classroom but was unsuccessful. The teacher then pushed the chair containing the sleeping child to Benson’s classroom, and she came out to help wake him. The teacher told officers Benson used her right hand and “lightly smacked” the child on the face before he fell to the floor, waking him, the report stated.
Officers reviewed security footage that showed the events as told by both the student and the unidentified teacher.
Benson was arrested and charged with misdemeanor cruelty to children, according to the police department. She resigned from her teaching duties on Jan. 10.
According to Shelly Galloway, Sumter School District’s executive director of communications and community engagement, Benson was a third-grade teacher at Lemira in South Sumter. She worked in the district for about 17 years before the incident.
“The conduct of this employee is not indicative of Sumter School District’s values and how we serve children,” Galloway said in a statement. “On January 7, she was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, and she resigned January 10.”
More Articles to Read