Lehigh Acres family accuses school principal of abusing son

Reporter: Corey Lazar
Published: Updated:

LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — “He put me to the wall and that is when he started bending my arm.”

Nine-year-old Marquise Cherry, a student at Mirror Lakes Elementary School, had his arm twisted by the school principal on Monday and now has to wear a sling for several weeks.

Cherry said the school principal hurt him so bad, school employees sent him to the hospital in an ambulance.

“It was really, really bad,” he said.

Cherry explained he and a group of students were teasing each other.

The principal told them to stop, grabbed Cherry, put him against the wall and twisted his arm behind his back.

“I was saying it was hurting can you please stop

Marquise’s father, Robert, was shocked when he found out what happened.

“Being that he is a professional in the school district he should have more control of himself,” he said. “You can talk to him and get him to get him to understand what you want him to do and then he will do it. But you don’t have to rough him off and treat him like he is a criminal.”

Robert Cherry added that his son hasn’t had any previous confrontations with the school principal and that he isn’t a child who creates problems.

The family met with district officials Tuesday morning to report what happened and their case is being reviewed.

Cherry was suspended and is considering changing schools.

This is the sixth incident in the last several weeks a Southwest Florida school worker has been accused of inappropriate contact with a student.

The Lee County school district is investigating a case in which a parent claimed a teacher pushed their child down at Harns Marsh Middle School. In Fort Myers Beach, another teacher was accused of grabbing a student by the neck.

Carol Pauls, a teacher at Nocatee Elementary School in Arcadia, was arrested for allegedly stuffing napkins down a child’s throat.

Barbara Margaron, a student aide at Big Cypress Elementary School in Naples, was also arrested after slapping a blind student.

Last week, the school district also fired a former security official for making inappropriate sexual comments about girls.

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