A woman faces child molestation charges after she was caught on video assaulting a boy at a Florida school.
Kady Ann Sewell, 33, was seen on surveillance footage allegedly entering the Seventh-day Adventist private school in Florida City and hitting the boy with a belt during school hours on Thursday, according to local television news station WTVJ.
The boy’s mother, Zendre Pollard, said he suffered a split lip in the attack, the news channel reported.
The attack allegedly came after the boy was bullied by Sewell’s son, Pollard said.
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She said her son called to report that another child was bullying and “fat shaming” him, prompting her son to pick up the child and get him back on his feet, the news channel reported.
Later that day, Sewell allegedly showed up at school to attack Pollard’s child with a belt, according to WTVJ. Video obtained by the news channel shows her repeatedly hitting the boy with a belt while he was sitting at a table with other students in the area.
“The mother comes in and scolds and abuses my child and just slaps him in the face! His head, his face, his arms,” Pollard told the news channel.
She said the incident forced her to take her son to a hospital because he had a history of seizures.
“My son could have had a seizure and died. All. They just hit him on the head,” she said.
Sewell was arrested and charged with child molestation without causing great bodily harm, meddling at school, and trespassing on a school security zone. A judge has also issued a restraining order against Sewell, and Pollard said she plans to pursue charges.
In a statement reported by WFOR-TV, the school wrote that it is cooperating with law enforcement.
“Our students are our highest priority and we are shocked and saddened to learn of this unfortunate incident,” the statement said.
Pollard asked how Sewell got into the school to allegedly assault her child.
“How did this lady get this far, could hit my kid several times and you saw it wasn’t broken, she walked calmly,” she told WTVJ. “My child wasn’t safe. My son was bullied by her son and then by the mother.”
Florida City is a city of about 12,000 people in South Florida, north of the Florida Keys.
news week reached out to the Florida City Police Department for comment, and a call to the school went unanswered Sunday afternoon.
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