After being caught on a cellphone video trying to drag a 14-year-old girl across a concrete deck and into the high school's swimming pool, a California physical education teacher has been charged with a misdemeanor and put on leave.
The Associated Press reported that Denny Peterson's actions were recorded on a cellphone by another student while he dragged Sandra Garcia toward the pool in August.
Peterson, a teacher at Edison High School in Stockton, was charged this week with a misdemeanor count of corporal injury to a child, the Stockton Record reported.
Garcia's attorney, Gilbert Somera, said she was left with scratches and bruises on her back after being dragged.
"When you have been bullied by an adult in front of your classmates, it places you in a very distressing situation," Somera said. "It's embarrassing for a young girl like that."
Garcia told Sacramento's News 10 she initially got in the pool but refused to fully submerge in the water because she didn't want to get her hair wet. When she got out of the pool, she said, Peterson tried to drag her back into it.
District officials said they couldn't comment on the case because of the alleged incident involves a minor.
Peterson, a 10-year employee of the school, has no history of complaints with the district. He could lose his job if convicted of the charge.
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