No charges filed against teacher in school bullying case
Nov 7, 2012, 8:42 AM | Updated: 9:31 am
The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office has announced that they will not file any charges against the Kopachuck Middle School teacher caught on camera “horsing around” with a student.
The incident occurred Feb. 2 in a reading and math preparation class. Students recorded video of a group of students holding one boy, 13-year-old CK, down and poking him. The video also shows the teacher joining in, wrestling with the boy and poking him as he is held down under a chair.
The boy’s parents found out about the video when their son started getting text messages about it from other students, and on Feb. 16 they spoke with school administrators and reviewed the video.
According to reports from the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, the family told school officials in their February meeting that they did not consider the teacher’s behavior damaging to their son.
The teacher, John Rosi, was reportedly suspended for 10 days and moved to another school.
“The teacher lost control of his classroom,” said Peninsula School District Acting Superintendent Charles Cuzzetto in an August statement.
In August, KIRO Radio’s Chris Sullivan reported that the parents decided to ask police to look into the case. This came five months after the incident, as the parents retained a civil attorney to advise them in the matter.
Ultimately, the investigation determined that no crime had occurred since the boy told interviewers that the incident was “all in fun.”
“In the Prosecutor’s Office, we seek justice,” said Prosecutor Mark Lindquist in a press release. “Sometimes justice requires vigorous prosecution of a case. Sometimes justice requires that we decline to prosecute. While this is unacceptable conduct in a classroom, it’s not criminal conduct under the law.”
