Child abuse charges will not be filed against a Coweta County teacher and paraprofessional who accused each other of mistreating students with special needs, according to the district attorney.
In a statement, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford said his office chose not to pursue the case because none of the allegations of abuse “can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The educators said in December they had witnessed one another acting abusively toward multiple students at Elm Street Elementary School, AJC.com previously reported. Both employees were placed on administrative leave shortly after.
According to Cranford, the paraprofessional alleged the teacher grabbed an 11-year-old student by the neck on the playground and hit them on the shoulder. She also claimed the teacher threw a shoe at a 10-year-old student’s face. In response, the teacher claimed the paraprofessional had locked a 7-year-old in a classroom bathroom multiple times for timeout.
Interviews with parents and students did not support either educator’s claims, Cranford said. All of the children said they had not been abused by anyone, and several said they liked both women, he said.
“We recognize that the children’s failure to corroborate the allegations of abuse may be a result of the children’s limited ability to communicate,” Cranford said. “However, the lack of corroboration makes the allegations difficult to prove, and if anything, tends to disprove them.”
Both the teacher and paraprofessional denied having ever hurt their students and, according to Cranford, the only accusations against either educator came from the other one.
“The District Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecutes child abusers, but we are always bound by what the evidence allows us to prove beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the burden of proof in our criminal justice system,” Cranford said. “With such serious and highly concerning allegations of abuse against such vulnerable children, the natural instinct is a fiercely emotional one, fueled by a desire to protect children and strongly punish those accused of harming them. As prosecutors, we cannot be governed by emotion.”
However, the district attorney is continuing to look into whether the handling of the abuse allegations violated Georgia’s “mandatory reporter” law, which makes it a misdemeanor to fail to report suspected child abuse within 24 hours of it happening.
In January, the Coweta County School System said Elm Street Principal Christi Hildebrand did not report the allegation in a timely manner. She was suspended without pay for two days and reassigned to the district’s central office for five days of “additional training on mandated reporting.”
She has since returned to the school.
“Questions still remain as to whether those at the school properly complied with the requirements for mandated reporters,” Cranford said. “A charging decision is pending and that portion of the case remains open.”
No other details were released pertaining to that part of the case.
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