VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – An elementary school substitute teacher is accused of hitting a student with a book in a Daytona Beach classroom for children with disabilities.
According to officers, 25-year-old Madison Anthony, a substitute teacher who was helping at Champion Elementary School for about a month, was arrested on Thursday.
Recommended Videos
[TRENDING: Become a News 6 Insider]
A charging affidavit shows a school resource officer was approached by a staff member who said they saw Anthony strike a student with a book in the ESE classroom — an exceptional student education classroom — she was assigned to alongside two other teachers, adding the children in this class require extra attention due to learning and behavioral disabilities.
Police said Anthony observed the victim hit another child with a book, to which she said, “You hit her, I hit you.” Anthony then took the book from the victim’s hands and walked around the table to get closer before hitting them with it, according to the affidavit.
Anthony told the child again, “What you do to her, I’ll do to you,” the affidavit reads.
Police said they contacted the Florida Department of Children and Families and the child’s mother, who said she wanted to press charges.
Volusia County Schools released the following statement following Anthony’s arrest.
Anthony faces a child abuse charge.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: