Mom of boy allegedly assaulted by teacher, says he is scared to go to school

GROSSE ILE. Mich. (WJBK) - A Grosse Ile Middle School teacher under investigation accused of assaulting a student.

The mother of the alleged victim saw FOX 2's story and was compelled to weigh in.

"To put it mildly, the teacher put his hands on him and yanked him about five and a half feet across the room," the boy's mother said.

That's what the 13-year-old son of this Grosse Ile mother says his teacher did when he bumped into a light switch during class at Grosse Ile Middle School.

"He was screaming and yelling at the students and it was all over a light switch," she said.

The mother is still furious Wednesday outside the Grosse Ile Township Police Department. She filed a police report May 11, accusing the teacher of assault and battery when she says her son described what happened.

"I don't want him near anything like that," she said. "He is supposed to be safe there."

The 8th grader tells police he was in class standing near a faulty light switch, accidentally bumping into it.

"It happened twice and that's when the teacher flipped out, it was the second time," she said.

The 13-year-old says the teacher grabbed him by his sweatshirt, threw him across the room and began yelling at him in front of roughly a dozen other kids. This happened after the boy's mother says he already asked to switch teachers.

"He said I want out of this class he's mean and rude, that didn't happen," the mother said.

The teacher has since been suspended with pay. But this mom is even more frustrated it took four days for the school to act.

"My son saw the teacher there during this time, which of course makes him more scared to go to school," she said.

According to court records, this teacher has been reprimanded for embarrassing students and accused of assault back in 2013. He then won an appeal and kept his job.

But now this mom says she is terrified this may happen again.

"He needs to be disciplined, whatever disciplinary action they need to take with him, he needs to know that's not right," she said.

FOX 2 did not receive comments from the superintendent or that teacher Wednesday, but Grosse Ile Township police say the investigation remains open, and for right now, it is still only an accusation.