A teacher previously honored as “Teacher of the Year” at an Alabama Christian school has been taken into custody after a video allegedly captured her violently striking her son with a belt.
Nicole Staples, who taught second grade at Cottage Hill Christian Academy in Mobile, faces charges of willful child abuse under 18 and has been dismissed from her position, as reported by AL.com.
Staples, 44, was arrested on Wednesday after authorities received a tip about a disturbing video in which she can be seen whipping her 12-year-old son more than 20 times with a belt, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office said.
In the video, the child can be heard crying out in pain while Staples reportedly drags him by the hair and berates him with profanity for not following instructions.
“This goes beyond discipline; it was outright abuse and assault,” stated Sheriff Paul Burch in an interview with local CBS station WKRG.
The incident was recorded by another child in the household, who sent the footage to an older sibling. The video subsequently appeared on social media.
“The fact that a family member felt compelled to record the incident suggests it wasn’t the first occurrence,” Sheriff Burch explained.
Jackson Staples, the 24-year-old brother who received the video, told Fox 10 that his mother had beaten him his “whole life.”
The boy who was beaten and his other siblings in the home are now staying with their aunt as their mom faces criminal charges, Jackson said.
Cottage Hill Christian Academy named Staples a co-Teacher of the Year in May, according to social media posts that have since been deleted.
