MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A Miami Gardens teacher was arrested Thursday after police said she hit her 5-year-old student with a ruler back in November.
The incident occurred at Aspire Preparatory Academy, located at 21311 NW 34th Ave., on Nov. 19.
5 p.m. report:
According to the child’s mother, the teacher, who Miami Gardens police identified in an arrest report Friday as 25-year-old Chrishawn Nicholson, initially claimed the child had sustained a cut near his eyebrow with a pencil.
However, police said hospital staff determined that a pencil could not have caused the wound, which will likely leave a scar.
The victim’s mother said her son later told her that his teacher struck him with a ruler, a claim he reiterated during a medical evaluation conducted by the University of Miami’s Child Protective Team, the report stated.
Authorities said the child’s mother provided police with cellphone video in which her son described the incident.
Police said Nicholson, of northwest Miami-Dade, made a statement following her arrest, but it was redacted in the publicly-released report.
Jail records show Nicholson is facing one count of child abuse with no great bodily harm.
Nicholson appeared in bond court Friday, where Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer set her bond at $5,000 and issued an order for her to stay away from the victim.
While in court, Glazer also stated “I’m not going to prohibit her from working in her profession... there are two sides to every story.”
No one responded at the charter school, while an employee at the adjoining church declined to comment, stating the school was not involved.
Local 10 News has reached out to Aspire Preparatory Academy for a statement, but we have not received a response as of Friday evening.
