Florida teacher accused of punching 5-year-old student in face with ruler: police

Multiple reports say a Florida teacher has been charged with child abuse after she hit a 5-year-old student in the face with a ruler.

Chrishawn Nicholson has been charged with child abuse in connection with an alleged incident that occurred in Miami Gardens in November 2024 on Thursday, January 9, Miami Gardens police said, according to NBC 6 South Florida, CBS News AND WSVN.

The alleged incident occurred at Aspire Preparatory Academy. Nicholson, 25, initially called the student’s mother and told her her son had been playing with a pencil and “got a cut near his eyebrow,” police documents state.

After the mother took her son to the hospital where he received stitches, medical staff told her the injuries were not caused by the pencil. Reports say the boy told his mother on the way to the medical facility that Nicholson “hit him with a ruler.”

The mother then reported the incident and the Florida Department of Children and Families contacted Child Protective Services to assess the situation. According to CBS News, the boy repeated his accusations to investigators and showed Nicholson allegedly hitting him.

According to CBS News and WSVN, the mother also gave police a video of her son telling her he was hit with a ruler.

Reports indicate that Nicholson finally turned herself in to police on January 9. She was arrested and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.

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On Jan. 10, a prosecutor said in court that there was a video recording of Nicholson referring to the child and saying, “I shot him,” NBC 6 South Florida reports.

According to WSVN, Miami-Dade District Judge Mindy S. Glazer said when Nicholson appeared before her in court, “I’m not going to order her not to be able to work in her profession because this may be an isolated incident. ”

“No matter how frustrated you are, you shouldn’t take it out on that child, because now that child could be his eye; it was so close to his eye. Then he would be blind for the rest of his life. What then? – she continued.

According to CBS News, Nicholson was ordered to stay away from the child.

On Sunday, January 12, Miami Gardens Police and Aspire Preparatory Academy did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453 or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in over 170 languages.