SUMTER, South Carolina — A South Carolina elementary school teacher is behind bars after she allegedly slapped a sleeping student twice in the face, causing the child to fall and strike his head on the floor.
Sharon Louise Benson, a teacher at Lemira Elementary School in Sumter County, was arrested following an investigation into the January incident. According to authorities, the student had fallen asleep in another classroom and was moved to the hallway, where Benson allegedly poked the child in the chest before striking him twice across the face. The force of the blows caused the student to fall to the floor and hit his head.
The Sumter Police Department was called to Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital on January 9th after officers were alerted to the injured child. Investigators spoke with the student and his aunt, who revealed she had not been informed about the incident until the day after it occurred.
Security footage from the school was reviewed during the investigation and reportedly confirmed key details of the student’s account — showing Benson pushing the child in a chair and slapping him in the hallway.
Attorney Todd Rutherford, who is representing the child’s family, did not hold back in his condemnation of the incident. “This should never happen in South Carolina and this should never happen to anyone’s child in any school anywhere in the world,” Rutherford said. “For a child to literally be sitting and be assaulted by a teacher so hard that they fall to the floor, it’s disturbing as a parent, it’s disturbing as a lawmaker, and it’s disturbing as a lawyer.”
The Sumter School District placed Benson on administrative leave on January 7th. She submitted her resignation three days later. In a statement, the district said the behavior was not a reflection of their values or the standard of care they hold for students.
The matter was subsequently referred to law enforcement, leading to Benson’s arrest. The investigation remains ongoing.
