Background: Claxton Elementary School in Claxton, Georgia (Evans County Schools). Inset left: Courtney Dutton (Evans County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Tanesha Herrington (Evans County Sheriff’s Office).
A pre-K teacher at a public elementary school in Georgia is accused of hurting children in her care, with her assistant witnessing the violence but failing to report it, authorities say.
Tanesha Herrington, 47, has been charged with eight counts of cruelty to children in the first degree — the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) announced — while Courtney Dutton, 37, faces one count of failure to report child abuse.
The state agency said it got involved after the Claxton Police Department “received an anonymous tip” that Herrington “had been abusing students in her classroom.”
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Inside this classroom sat a security camera, the GBI said, recording what went on inside. That camera captured Herrington committing heinous actions against students usually no more than 5 years old, according to authorities.
“The footage depicts Herrington hitting two students repeatedly in the face, grabbing a student by the throat, forcefully lifting students by the arms while they were lying on the floor asleep, slapping a student on the arm and then pushing the student, and throwing a bookbag at a student who was seated on the ground,” the GBI stated, adding, “the videos include incidents from both the current and previous academic years.”
Dutton — described as being Herrington’s paraprofessional, “a trained aide who assists a professional person” — was allegedly “observed on video inside the classroom during several of these incidents and failed to report the conduct as mandated.”
At the time of the GBI’s announcement on Friday, the agency said additional footage was still being sifted through, and “additional victims may be identified, potentially resulting in further charges.”
The investigation is ongoing, and when it concludes, the Atlantic Circuit District Attorney’s Office will be tasked with prosecuting those charged.
Claxton is a small city in the center of Georgia, located about 50 miles west of Savannah.
