Deputies say a Sumter County elementary school teacher is facing charges after being accused of child abuse while working there.
The inquiry began on April 21, when the Florida Department of Children and Families received a tip and notified a deputy assigned to Lake Panasoffkee Elementary School.
According to the arrest report, witnesses reported troubling situations involving Stephanie Arnott, the school’s special needs teacher.
One witness reported seeing Arnott, 40, seize a 5-year-old student’s head and aggressively move it toward a television, forcing the child to weep.
Another teacher reported hearing a youngster scream in agony in Arnott’s classroom. When the witness entered, she discovered the infant wrapped tightly in a blanket, with Arnott restraining the child’s mobility and placing her hand over the child’s face, according to officials. According to the arrest report, the kid yelled out, “You’re hurting me,” and “Ouch,” while Arnott maintained the youngster would take a nap.
“It’s deeply disturbing and at the end of the day we’re here to do what’s best for kids on a daily basis,” said Logan Brown, Superintendent of Sumter County Schools.
Brown stated that once they were aware of the claims, they followed all school board regulations.
We called her into the office and planned to release her during her probationary period, but she finally decided to quit,” Superintendent Brown stated.
Arnott was taken into custody and transferred to the Sumter County Detention Center. She faces two counts of abuse without great bodily harm.
