Gwinnett County Public Schools is investigating claims that a substitute teacher sexually abused a 9-year-old student at Starling Elementary School earlier this month.

A spokesperson confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Thursday that school district officials received reports that a substitute at the Grayson school “touched a child inappropriately.”

The district’s human resources division and Gwinnett County school police are investigating the allegations. The district also reported the alleged abuse to the Division of Family and Children Services.

School district officials have not released details about the alleged incident, but Channel 2 Action News reported that a male substitute teacher groped the girl in a classroom Dec. 3. The child’s mother told the news station she met with the principal and assistant principal and that school officials said the man’s name was taken off the list of substitute teachers. District officials did not confirm that Thursday.

But the mother wants to pursue criminal charges. She said she pulled her daughter out of class this week and the child is now doing her schoolwork from home, Channel 2 reported.

“I don’t want any other kids to go through this,” the woman said.

— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.

About the Author

Keep Reading

On April 8, 1974, in Atlanta, Hank Aaron smashed baseball’s home run record. Our special coverage celebrating the 50th anniversary of this magical moment has begun online and in our print editions. There’s still more to come as Monday’s historic anniversary arrives.

Credit: Richard Watkins

Featured

Rose Scott signals as Closer Look goes on air in the WABE studio. An Atlanta resident left WABE a $3 million donation, a boost after WABE lost $1.9 million in annual funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. (Ben Gray / AJC file)

Credit: Ben Gray