Gym Teacher Charged for Trying to Drag Teen Girl Into Swimming Pool
A gym teacher has been put on leave and charged with causing injury to a child after he tried to drag a 14-year-old girl into a swimming pool while she screamed and struggled to keep her swimsuit top from falling off. Another student caught everything on video.
The Stockton, Calif. high school student said she didn't want to swim because she'd had her hair done for an event later that day, News 10 reported, but 10-year veteran gym teacher Denny Peterson wouldn't take no for an answer.
In the 95-second video, Peterson can be seen dragging the girl across the pool deck and trying to force into the water as she screams for him to stop. Other students try to break it up. You can also hear the girl yelling "my shirt's falling down!" as he tries to pull her away from her friends.
News 10 reports Peterson was placed on leave for a month after the late August incident, but he later returned to another school in the Stockton Unified District. After misdemeanor child injury charges were filed against him this week, the district placed the teacher on paid leave again.
"SUSD has taken appropriate action in this case. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave per district policy," the school district said in a statement.
The girl's family has hired a lawyer, who told News 10 that anyone watching the video should be disgusted by "the way this man put his hands on a 14-year-old girl." They're considering a lawsuit.