Inset: Michael Jones (Lake County Jail). Background: East Ridge High School in Florida, where Jones allegedly struck a student (WESH).
A 66-year-old Florida teaching assistant is accused of abusing a student with special needs, allegedly removing the student’s shoe and using it to hit him several times before dragging him across the floor by his feet.
Michael Anthony Jones was arrested Wednesday and faces one count of cruelty toward a child by child abuse without great bodily harm and one count of simple battery, according to court records.
The alleged incident took place at East Ridge High School on the morning of Oct. 14. Investigators reviewed school surveillance footage as well as cellphone video recorded by another student.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, a student went to a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy assigned to the school and showed him cellphone footage that allegedly captured Jones “involved in a physical altercation with a student.”
The assistant principal later gave investigators video from the school’s security cameras. The footage allegedly showed Jones and the student walking toward a doorway in the gymnasium. They briefly disappeared from view, and the student was then seen “falling backwards away from the doorway.”
The affidavit describes what happened next:
Jones is seen moving toward the student, who was lying on the floor and raising his feet in an apparent effort to keep Jones away. The affidavit states that Jones removed one of the student’s shoes and struck him approximately four times—twice on the buttocks, once on what appeared to be his head and once on his right arm. Jones then allegedly grabbed the student and dragged him across the floor while trying to lift him.
The school surveillance cameras then lost sight of Jones and the student, investigators said. A cellphone recording made by another student captured the portion of the encounter that was outside the cameras’ view.
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That video allegedly showed the student standing up and appearing to “cower before Mr. Jones.” Jones then appeared to strike him again, causing him to fall to the floor, before grabbing and pulling him up a second time, according to the affidavit.
During an interview with deputies, Jones allegedly offered his account of the confrontation. The affidavit states that Jones said the student had used the word “gay” and that he told him he could not use it. Jones also claimed the student spit on him and said, “without question, I took his shoe off and spanked [him] with it.”
When asked how many times he struck the student and where, Jones allegedly said it was “three maybe four times,” identifying the student’s leg and arm as the areas he hit.
Jones denied punching or pushing the student after he stood up, according to the affidavit. He said he “may have touched” the student, causing him to fall backward.
A deputy also asked whether Jones knew the student had special needs. Jones allegedly replied, “all of them that we work with is special needs, but he understands what’s going on,” according to the affidavit.
Lake County Schools told Orlando Fox affiliate WOFL that Jones would not be permitted to return to campus. The district also said he could be terminated at an upcoming school board meeting.
Jones had been employed by the district since 2008, according to a report from Orlando NBC affiliate WESH. The station reported that he received a written reprimand in 2017 for using inappropriate language in front of students.
Jones was booked into the Lake County Jail and later posted an $11,000 bond. He was released Thursday afternoon, jail records show. It was not immediately known when he was scheduled to appear in court.
The post Teaching assistant used shoe to beat student with special needs, was filmed ‘dragging him along the floor’: Sheriff first appeared on Law & Crime.
