A middle school teacher once named a “Teacher of the Year” was accused of savagely beating one of his students earlier this month.
Melvin McClain, a teacher at Conyers Middle School in Georgia, was cuffed after he made all his students but two leave his classroom and then allegedly beat the boy, according to school officials.
McClain allegedly struck the 13-year-old student in the head and stomach more than 20 times, all in front of another classmate, according to the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Department.
A school resource officer, who is also a deputy with the sheriff’s department, filed a report detailing the shocking assault.
McClain was then arrested at the Rockdale County Public School Board of Education building on Dec. 2, according to local jail records.
When deputies pressed him about the alleged beating, McClain explained that he tends to engage in “horseplay” with his students, CBS News reported.
Danielle Offett, the 13-year-old victim’s horrified mother, told WSB-TV that she watched the surveillance footage from inside the classroom and “saw a large adult male pounding on [her] son.”
“Mr. McClain held him by the neck and yelled for everyone to leave out. As soon as they left out, he immediately hit him in the chest and began to yell at him over and over again,” Offett said.
“It took me a moment to get through the whole video, but seeing with my own eyes, never imagined it happening to my own child,” she added.
Offett said she plans to take legal action, though it’s unclear if she plans to sue the school district or McClain.
Her attorney, Kianna Chennault, balked at McClain’s alleged dismissal that he was only engaging in “horseplay.”
“He admitted to the police, saying he horseplays with his students often. So, I guess this is his definition of horseplay, which is battery and assault,” Chennault told the outlet.
Rockdale County Public Schools released a statement explaining that it “learned about the incident via email from the parent” and assured that it is “investigating the allegation” — while the teacher was barred from the classroom.
McClain was charged with simple battery and three counts of cruelty to children. He was released on bond on Dec. 4, according to local jail records.
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