Florida’s Leon County Sheriff’s Office has brought criminal charges against an educator who allegedly promoted the delinquency of a minor by planning fights between her own students.
Angel Drew Footman, a former sixth-grade teacher at Griffin Middle School sanctioned brawls between students in her classroom, claims a press release by the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
“The fighters informed me that Footman asked them whether they wanted to have a ‘friendly fade’ before the fights began,” Leon County Sheriff’s Office detective Hanna Perry wrote in a report, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “She made statements such as ’30 seconds, no screaming, no yelling, no phones,’ and she even asked two of the girls whether they wanted to come back during her 6th period planning period to ‘run it back’ (fight again).”
WCTV reported that clips captured in the classroom showed Footman watching the disputes from her desk and neglecting to intervene, all while making remarks such as “no screaming, no nothing” and “stop pulling hair.” It additionally said that documents stemming from the investigation showed no report of Footman attempting to inform administrators about the fights.
According to the outlet, court documents revealed that Footman admitted to not seeking assistance with stopping the scuffles nor trying to help herself. She is now reportedly facing four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, which under Florida state law is a first-degree misdemeanor that can bring penalties such as up to one (1) year in jail, twelve (12) months of probation, and fines, fees, court costs, restitution costs, community service, supervision, and other sanctions.
In other news of recent alleged malpractice against children by a Florida teacher, a teacher at the West Homestead K-8 Center school was arrested by Miami-Dade police on suspicion of engaging in lewd acts with children.
Included in the allegations is that the educator engaged in copulation with a child.
Footman says she took no part in planning the fights; court documents reportedly viewed by the Miami Herald say that four school girls seen brawling on film claim the opposite.
The former schoolteacher submitted herself to law enforcement at the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office on April 7, and was arrested, booked, and released the same day. Her charges could bring a year of jail time each, potentially adding up to four years behind bars, according to Blaze Media.
