MOBILE, Ala. (WKRC) — A teacher was taken into custody after an unsettling video of a beating surfaced online.
According to WPMI-TV, 44-year-old Randi Nicole Staples, a 2nd-grade teacher at Cottage Hill Christian Academy in Mobile, Alabama, was arrested after a troubling video—reportedly showing 22 strikes over 14 seconds—was posted on Facebook.
The outlet reports that the video, filmed inside a home, shows Staples hitting her 12-year-old child with what appears to be a belt or strap before picking him up by his hair and berating him with profanity.
The Mobile County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to WPMI that Staples is the child’s mother.
According to WKRG, another sibling living in the home recorded the video and sent it to an older sibling, who then posted it to social media. WPMI reports that the video was online only briefly before being removed.
A Facebook post from Cottage Hill Christian Academy shows that Staples was honored as Teacher of the Year in May.
“It’s almost like a dual personality. Because by all accounts, I’m told she is a good teacher and well respected. And yet what happens in the home is clearly opposite of that,” Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch told WPMI.
Cottage Hill Christian Academy issued the following statement to WPMI after the video surfaced:
“Following the findings of law enforcement, which determined that the teacher had engaged in improper conduct unrelated to her school responsibilities, an arrest was made, and Cottage Hill Christian Academy terminated her employment in accordance with institutional policy.”
The school added that it will cooperate with the Department of Human Resources, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office as the investigation continues.
Staples was arrested and booked into the Mobile Metro Jail. She is charged with the following, according to the reports:
- Willful abuse of a child under 18 (felony)
When speaking with the outlet, Sheriff Burch described Staples’ actions in the video as “repulsive.”
“People are entitled to discipline their children how they choose, but that went well beyond discipline. It was abuse,” he said. “And it was sickening to see somebody repeatedly strike their child, then grab them by the hair and yell and curse at them. I think the last strike was across his arms there was never any question or doubt that she was ultimately going to be arrested.”
Sheriff Burch told WKRG that the Department of Human Resources has placed all the children with a family member while the investigation continues. He added that he believes much more will be uncovered, according to WPMI.