FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A Wadsworth Elementary School teacher was arrested after investigators say he forcefully swung a 6-year-old student by the arm and pinned the child against a wall with a desk.
Kevin Adkisson, 52, of Bunnell, was arrested Thursday on two counts of child abuse without great bodily harm, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. He was released from the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility on a $5,000 bond.
The investigation followed an Oct. 16 classroom encounter involving a student with special needs. A paraprofessional reported what she witnessed to school administrators, who escorted Adkisson off campus and notified the child’s parents and the Florida Department of Children and Families, deputies said.
Witness describes classroom encounter
According to the arrest affidavit, two students were arguing over a toy during classroom free time when the paraprofessional intervened.
The employee told investigators Adkisson approached and forcefully pulled the toy from the students’ hands. She said he then pushed one child and grabbed the child’s arm in a rough, slinging motion that caused the student’s body to swing through the air.
Adkisson yelled that the student was acting like a 2-year-old and needed to go to a designated area, according to the affidavit.
The child became upset, crawled beneath a desk and began crying and yelling, the witness told investigators.
She said Adkisson later grabbed the child by the arms and moved him behind the desk, pinning him against a wall. The child’s legs were trapped between Adkisson’s legs and a desk leg, restricting his movement, according to the affidavit.
The employee told investigators she heard the child crying and saying Adkisson was hurting him and that he could not breathe.
Adkisson eventually released the student, told him he was not hurt and walked away, according to the witness’s account.
Affidavit explains the two charges
Investigators based one count on the allegation that Adkisson grabbed and swung the child by the arm. The second count concerns the allegation that he restrained the child against the wall.
The affidavit also records a separate allegation from the student that Adkisson struck both sides of his stomach with closed hands, picked him up and moved him to the back of a line after he skipped ahead of classmates.
The paraprofessional recalled seeing the child crying at the back of the line but said she did not directly witness that alleged physical contact, according to the affidavit.
The document identifies the arm-swinging and restraint allegations as the basis for the two charges.
District says staff reported concerns
Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore said the district is investigating and cooperating with authorities.
“I’m proud of our staff for taking action and speaking up in this matter,” Moore said in the Sheriff’s Office release.
Moore said the district provides intervention training and support to employees working with students.
The affidavit says Adkisson declined to speak with investigators. The allegations have not been proven in court.
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