Teacher Arrested After Allegedly Assaulting 5-Year-Old Special Needs Student
SELMA, N.C. – A Selma Elementary School teacher is no longer employed by Johnston County Public Schools after an incident that led to her arrest Friday for allegedly striking a 5-year-old special needs student inside her classroom.
Cathy Lynn Medlin, 50, of Goldsboro, was charged with misdemeanor child abuse and misdemeanor assault on a child under age 12.
The incident reportedly happened Thursday morning, Sept. 24, at Selma Elementary School on West Richardson Street.
According to Selma Police, a teacher assistant witnessed the incident and immediately reported it to the school principal. The principal notified the school resource officer, and police launched an investigation.
It started when a 5-year-old kindergarten student became upset during class and crawled underneath a table.
According to the teacher assistant, Medlin alleged said, “Not today,” removed items from the top of the table and flipped the table over. The witness told police Medlin then jerked the child’s arm, but the student did not move.
The child began swinging his hands in a fluttering motion toward Medlin but did not strike her, according to the witness.
Medlin reportedly told the child, “I wish you would because I hit back.”
Police said the child made the motion again. The teacher assistant told investigators Medlin then pulled her arm back and swung with a full motion, striking the 5-year-old in the side of his rib cage.
According to the police report, the impact made a loud thud that the witness said indicated the child was struck with more than light force.
The teacher assistant said the other students in the classroom stopped what they were doing and looked toward Medlin after the alleged strike.
According to the witness, the child never made physical contact with Medlin.
The teacher assistant told police the child was crying and visibly upset after the incident.
Medlin reportedly contacted the child’s parents afterward and told them the student had hit her, but did not tell them she had struck the child.
The teacher assistant told police Medlin then stood in front of the classroom and said, “That’s what happens when you hit someone. I hit back. I don’t care if (teacher assistant) reports me.”
The teacher assistant also told investigators Medlin said she did not care if the incident was reported to school administrators because she was prepared to submit her notice and become an Uber driver.
The child’s parents responded to the school after being notified of the incident.
Police offered to have EMS evaluate the child. His parents declined and said they would have him examined by his pediatrician.
Police said the child suffered a minor injury.
Medlin was interviewed by Selma Police on Thursday as part of the investigation.
She resigned from her teaching position Thursday.
Medlin turned herself in Friday at the Johnston County Detention Center in Smithfield, where the two misdemeanor warrants were served.
Selma Police Chief Justin Vause praised school administrators and staff for immediately reporting the incident and cooperating with investigators.
“First and foremost, I want to thank the administration and staff at Selma Elementary School for acting quickly and appropriately by notifying law enforcement when this incident was brought to their attention. Their cooperation was critical in allowing our officers and detectives to respond promptly and begin a thorough investigation,” Vause said.
“I also want to commend the men and women of the Selma Police Department who handled this investigation with professionalism, diligence, and compassion, particularly given the circumstances involving a special needs student.”
“Our responsibility is to protect the most vulnerable members of our community, and we take that responsibility very seriously. Because this is an ongoing investigation involving a juvenile, we will not be releasing additional details at this time.”
Medlin was given a $4,000 secured bond on Friday pending her first appearance in court.
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This woman’s only crime is being sane in a crazy world
In no world is it a sane decision to strike a special needs child. You’re part of the problem.
Absolutely!
Are you fing kidding me? This is a child, a special needs child did you even read the article? You think thats ok? Please dont ever have children, defending this makes you just as bad as this pos woman
So if his girlfriend is pregnant right now, what you want them to do?
Leave the *******. He shouldn’t be around children.
Always a man.
🤣
Please tell me where it is EVER ok to hit someone else child?? Under 5yo? In the ribs??? Then BRAG about in a special needs ELEMENTARY classroom?? Did you even read the article?
Then you are as much so
F*** you Nate.
I’m SMH if you think that was the right decision as an adult, trusted by parents, administration, the county, and the state, to care for and protect other people’s children.
Your boos mean nothing ive seen what makes you cheer
Girrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl, you better be glad Selma PD got to you before the child’s parents did. You got lucky on this one.
You best believe that
A big thank u to rhe teachinf assistant and the everyone Involved to handle the situation but she should have stepped in .
So the school lied. They said the child did hit her and failed to mention she hit the child to the parents? Or did I read that wrong?
You read that wrong. The teacher told the parents that the child hit her, but didn’t inform them that she hit the child. The teacher assistant stated the child never hit the teacher.
I agree, where was the TA that they didn’t step in sooner. The TA is responsible as well. If I was the parent I would have asked the TA why they witnessed the whole thing and did not prevent it.
No excuse to act that way toward a child, this makes me really angry
Aw h*ll nah
Honestly, if someone doesn’t stand up to these bad children, who will? I’m so sick of people labeling kids “special needs”. Why is it okay for this kid to go around doing whatever they want??? Obviously this woman was under SEVERE distress if she was prepared to quit anyways and become a uber driver! This is the same kid 20 years from now who will be on the TV charged with murder and you all will want to know why someone didn’t stop him! This woman does not belong in jail!
Honestly. I don’t even want to say what id like to happen to you.
This was my child’s teacher and he’s non-verbal and has a disability. This stung my eyes and pierced my heart. Threatened my child too. Praying for all the kids in the classroom and the child and their family. This can’t be life.
Really Jack?? I have a child on the spectrum and having a child crawl under a desk is a normal response to being overstimulated. My daughter crawled under a desk and was suspended for disrupting class. Why doesn’t the school system educate the teachers on how to deal with children who have issues. It is not always the child or the parents fault. We see more and more children on the spectrum. Some teachers do not have a love for teaching, this woman is obviously one of them.
Umm, just no!!! Best be glad it’s not my child or grandchild !! Lick her under the jail!!
I wish a b**ch would hit my kid I’m going to jail with her
Amen to that
Someone should check on her children, she seems like a basket case.
This child is a Covid baby era, they probably was not special need, but Johnston County school label them as spacial needs, because of being isolated from society during their first few years on this earth. Now they would have needed more than the resource officers. Johnston Schools need a new hiring process.
My daughter did not have issues before the covid shutdown. She was in 5th grade and was very well adjusted. By the time she went back to school, after isolation, she had multiple issues. I asked the middle school if she could talk with someone and was told they were overwhelmed with children that had similar issues. Although we could not prepare for covid after affects, I don’t see anything done in the school system to help these children. We are dealing with psychiatrists and therapy on our own.
Deport her
😹😹 to Ireland? Italy? The UK? Will have to ask her ancestors😹😹😹
I’m so ready to slap somebody that says that because it’s all over every single article.
shes lucky all i gotta say
Special needs children should be in a reduced size classroom, not in a regular class with 24 plus kids. These kids need extra time AND attention. I’m not excusing the teacher, but where’s the concern for the teachers that do mother and care for our children while we are struggling to juggle work and home? Blame the system that eliminate funds and resources meant for our educational programs.
When I was growing up in school the special needs students were in a smaller class environment but I just did a study on this and in 1980 the autism rate was one in 10,000 today the autism rate is one in 37 so with that amount of people with autism and other special needs they can’t separate them like they used to. Plus you have the parents of these kids who want their children treated just like everyone else’s children and not treated as a special needs child. I also learned in my study that in the 1980s we had 11 total vaccines and today by the time a child gets to kindergarten they’ve had close to 80 and by the time that same child graduates high school they’ve had close to 100 vaccines so I’m not here to discuss rather the vaccines cause autism I’m just saying that it’s possible.
No money for this… spent it all on $2M funding Smithfield’s ball field.
Elementary School teachers lie all the time but I really question if they hit all the time
If it had been my child that got slapped , all h*ll would be breaking loose in Johnston County ! People keep concentrating on the kid be “slow” that doesn’t make a da*n difference the teacher has NO BUSINESS PUTTING HER HANDS ON ANY CHILD PERIOD !!