- November 22, 2024
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A Flagler Schools paraprofessional has been charged with felony child abuse after security camera footage caught her hitting a child in the head.
Cheryl Ann Andrews, 69, a paraprofessional at Indian Trail Middle School, was arrested on Nov. 7 by Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies at her home in the R Section of Palm Coast. The incident occurred at 10:02 a.m. on Sept. 24 in the ITMS cafeteria, according to Andrews’ arrest report.
The student involved has mental and physical illnesses, the arrest report said.
In a statement made to the Observer, Flagler Schools Communication Officer Don Foley said Flagler Schools is aware of the situation and is actively looking into it. Andrews has been placed on paid administrative leave pending further investigation, per the school board’s policy and state statutes.
School CCTV footage of the Sept. 24 incident shows Andrews walking over to the victim and hitting him on the back of the head, the report said. The student is seen clutching his head in pain and then pointing at Andrews while talking to a nearby witness. Andrews walked back over to the student, shoved his head and then pulled his head backward toward her chest and “forcefully places another hand around [the victim’s] face,” the report said.
A Department of Children and Families child protective investigator contacted the school’s FCSO resource officer the next day and began looking into the incident after receiving a complaint, the report said.
The investigation spanned almost six weeks, according to dates in the report, and the child’s mother decided to pursue criminal charges in early October. In late October, the witness told a deputy that Andrews “is very aggressive towards all the students and that Andrews’ actions against [the victim] were unprovoked.”
Andrews confessed to hitting the student in a Nov. 5 interview with an FCSO deputy, stating her actions were “unprovoked” and that she didn’t “know why she did that.”
She was booked into the Flagler County jail on Nov. 7 and is now out on a $2,500 bond.
A no contact order has been filed against Andrews, ordering her to stay away from the victim and his mother. Andrews' arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 23.
Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said in a press release that the FCSO "will not tolerate attacks on a student regardless of who commits it."
“School employees have a difficult job in today’s environment, but this was an unprovoked assault, and the school district took immediate action to safeguard students from this aggressive employee," Staly said. "The District and the Sheriff’s Office are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for everyone.”
This is a developing story.
