Substitute teacher fired after body-slamming middle school student

The 12-year old was left with bruises on his shoulder, elbow, and back.

A North Carolina substitute teacher has been fired after he picked up a middle school student and body-slammed him over a box of Valentine's Day chocolates.

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Heart-shaped boxes of Hershey's chocolate (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A North Carolina substitute teacher has been fired after he picked up a middle school student and body-slammed him over a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates.

The student, Jose Escudero, told local station WGHP that things had taken a bad turn when the substitute teacher confiscated his Valentine’s chocolates and threw them into the sink.

School officials have identified the substitute teacher as 49-year-old Paul Stennett, according to WXII.

Escudero waited until class was over to get his chocolates back, but when he tried to put the box back into his backpack, he claimed that Stennett tried to grab the box away When that didn’t work, the 12-year old said the substitute teacher then grabbed him by his shirt, pinned him up against the wall and then threw him over his shoulder to the ground.

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Escudero’s mother, Mayo Corrales, shared cell phone video of the incident on Facebook. In the video, shocked students can be seen standing by and screaming as Escudero is slammed to the ground.

After the incident, Escudero was left with bruises on his shoulder, elbow, and back.

The school district responds

Officials for the Guilford County Schools district have called the incident “unacceptable” and have said that Stennett, who started working for the school district in December 2017, has lost his job. Paul Stennett is listed as the owner of a Henderson, NC daycare center called, Greenglow where he credits his mother for his desire to enrich children’s lives.

“We reported the behavior to law enforcement and will no longer employ this person as a substitute teacher or in any other GCS position,” said chief of staff Nora Carr. 

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Corrales is now calling for “justice” for her son. After all, no mother wants to hear that her son was hurt at school, especially not for something as simple as having chocolates on Valentine’s Day.

Greensboro police have also launched an investigation into the incident.

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