Somerton Middle School teacher faces charges after alleged assault on student

EDITOR'S NOTE: We are no longer identifying this suspect as he was not formally charged.

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A Somerton Middle School teacher, was booked at the Yuma County Jail Tuesday night. The teacher is accused of hitting a student in the classroom.

He faces charges of aggravated assault involving a minor.

Somerton Chief of Police, Araceli Juarez, stated, “So the information that I can release at this time is that we were called out to the Somerton school… regarding a teacher that had assaulted a student.”

The incident was promptly reported by a student at Somerton Middle School to the administration office.

The mother of the victim describes the incident and her decision to press charges.

“The teacher said my son smelled his behind. And my boy denies it completely. My son got up to pick up a plastic sheet that had fallen. In that moment, the teacher was turning to write something on the board. Then he says the boy was bending down behind him, and he hit him… On the back. He hit him hard, and well, everyone saw when he did that," explained the mother of the victim.

The Somerton Elementary School District, in a press release, said they’ll keep the school community informed and ensure necessary steps will be taken to address the incident appropriately.

"He's hurt, injured, and scared because he had never experienced anything like this before,” said the mother.

“We’re working in conjunction with the school district and one of our priorities is that both staff and students are safe in their work environment,” said Juarez.

He will be back in court Friday afternoon, to hear his charges.

The district also said the teacher will continue to be on administrative leave while the investigation continues.