A West Palm Beach middle school teacher was fired and charged with felony child abuse after a video recorded her using a broken broomstick to discipline one of her students.
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Teacher accused of assaulting student with a broken metal broomstick
Cyntyche Darling-Lundy,49, was arrested last week after she was accused of allegedly assaulting a student with a broken metal broom at Forest Grove Middle School on April 19. According to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Darling- Lundy hit a male student with a silver rod, and initially threw the broomstick at the student but it missed and broke a computer screen. Moments later, Darling-Lundy pinned the student in between two desks and struck him three times with the broom handler in the arm, leg, and hand. CBS 4 said the video obtained by police was recorded by the victim’s friend who uploaded it on Snapchat.
“She acknowledges the Victim was acting in a playful manner after not following instructions. She said he picked up the broken piece of broom and was running around with it. The stick had a sharp point and she did not want anyone getting hurt. When she took it from him, she cut her hand. She pointed out to the Victim what he did. She stated she cleaned her wound and the Victim went back to his desk. She did not write the Victim up because it was a “Playful” interaction. She said she later gave him chewing gum, and the next day, asked for a hug”, school officials wrote in their report.
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St. Lucie Public Schools releases a statement regarding the disturbing video
“St. Lucie Public Schools is aware of serious allegations against a teacher. The school district is working closely with our local law enforcement partners. The alleged behavior is intolerable and reprehensible. As a result of the initial investigation, the teacher has been terminated. This behavior represents a total disregard for SLPS’s mission to provide a safe and caring teaching and learning environment and such behavior is not tolerated,” the district wrote in a statement.
Joselyn Destine, the victim’s mother, said Lundy will “pay for this” after learning about what happened to her son. Local news sources said she contacted the sheriff’s office after seeing the video from her son’s friend.
““He’s telling her, ‘No, no, no. It’s clear as day. ‘I want out!’”Your job is not to beat him. You beat my baby.”
His friend’s mother, Menda Potter, said her son wanted to protect his friend after witnessing the incident.
“I asked him why he did that. And he said, ‘To protect my friend. I don’t want this teacher hurting nobody else.’”
Lundy was booked at the Palm Beach County Jail and released on a 5,000 bail after being processed.