CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County school administrator is out of jail on bond on charges that he body-slammed a fifth grader last month.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne has been looking into the case and obtained warrants about the incident, involving Student Engagement Specialist Tony McCrear. On Friday, Winne spoke to the alleged victim’s mom and the family’s attorney.
“At about 3 p.m., he called me and said he was in pain and I asked him what was wrong. He said that he had been body-slammed and forcibly put on the floor,” the victim’s mom told Channel 2 Action News.
Court documents indicate McCrear, who works at the Michelle Obama STEM Academy in Clayton County, broke the law “when he physically without provocation and outside the scope of his duties lift the juvenile over his shoulder and intentionally threw him to the floor while confronting said student regarding his behavior during lunch.”
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Jessica Champion says her son suffered a diagnosed injury to the left shoulder with bruising evident in a photo sent to Channel 2 Action News through the family’s attorney causing him to be placed in a sling he was still wearing at the time of the interview.
Champion says her son reported the incident to a school resource officer at one point tried to pull McCrear off her son. She is upset the school did not notify her until more than 2 hours after the incident.
The family’s attorney Sarah Flack provided the incident report to Channel 2 Action News.
“At worst we have a fifth grader who didn’t follow instructions. That happens. That’s what fifth graders do. We have an administrator who didn’t know how to handle that and committed a felony offense,” Flack said.
Flack says the school system should release the video.
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“Families’ parents deserve to know what really happened so we want transparency, we want accountability, we want to know, we want to see what happened,” Flack said.
“The Clayton Public Defender’s Office is investigating the charges against Mr. McCrear and preparing a zealous, effective defense on his behalf at this early stage in the process, we must decline additional comments for the time being,” a public defender spokesman said in a statement to Channel 2 Action News.
“I wanna see justice, I wanna see the school system incorporate some type of training so that these teachers can know how to resolve issues better,” Champion said.
Channel 2 Action News is waiting for a response from Clayton County Schools. A document indicates the bond was set at $10,000 with conditions.
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