MODESTO — A scratch on an 8-year-old’s back and a tear in his shirt are seen in pictures taken by the boy’s parents Lee and Sabrina Hill.
They told FOX40 these injuries were caused by their son’s third-grade teacher at Marshall Elementary School in Modesto in March of this year.
“He has had sleepless nights, he has had nightmares. It’s been pretty hard,” Sabrina Hill of Modesto said.
On Monday, the parents, alongside community groups, demanded that Modesto City Schools reinvestigate the complaint.
“The teacher grabbed this young boy with such force that an audible rip was heard throughout the classroom,” said Jacq Wilson, an attorney and a representative of Advocates for Justice.
The parents and community groups also want the district to include facts they claimed were left out in the original reports.
The community group hosting the rally said the district investigated the incident twice.
FOX40 spoke to school district spokeswoman Becky Fortuna who would not release much information because of the child’s age.
“Student safety is our top priority. We conducted a thorough investigation and took appropriate measures based on the findings of that investigation,” Fortuna said.
After the incident, the Hills moved their two boys out of the school district.
“Whenever we enrolled him I deliberately asked for a female teacher just because I knew it would be an issue,” Lee Hill explained.
Advocates for Justice provided FOX40 with a copy of the Modesto City Schools findings which say the teacher was placed on five weeks paid administrative leave and they state that if the 8-year-old were to return to the school district he would not have contact with his former teacher.
The Hills filed a police report back in March. The Modesto Police Department said they forwarded the case to the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office.