BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – A substitute teacher in Berkeley County will face a judge in general sessions court in July following accusations that she struck two nonverbal children in a classroom last month.
Sheryl Ann Brown, 66, of Summerville has been charged with two counts of unlawfully placing a child at risk or causing harm or willfully abandoning a child.
She turned herself into the Goose Creek Police Department on Tuesday, May 13.
According to police, the incident involving Brown happened Wednesday, April 23 at Carolyn Lewis School, 380 Coleridge Drive in Summerville.
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Police said a classroom aide inside a special education room for children with several mental disabilities notified the principal that she witnessed, throughout the day, Brown get hit by a nonverbal child. Brown reportedly responded by hitting the child back.
According to a handwritten statement by the classroom aide, the nonverbal child also threw a small toy at Brown. Brown responded by picking up the toy and “maliciously” throwing it back at the student.
“Brown’s throw missed and instead struck (victim #2) on the face, causing her to get a black eye in her right eye. She is also nonverbal,” a police report reads.
After the classroom aide notified the principal of what she witnessed, police said the principal responded to Brown’s classroom and informed her that she needed to leave the school pending an investigation.
When she left, police said Brown told the school secretary that “she did nothing wrong and was not worried about the accusations.”
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Brown is not employed by the Berkeley County School District. Instead, she works for Kelly Services, which hires substitute teachers as needed, police said. The Berkeley Observer reached out to Kelly Services for comment. They provided the following statement:
The safety and well-being of the students we serve is our top priority. We take all reports of inappropriate behavior by our substitute educators seriously and are cooperating with the district and authorities in their investigation. The substitute educator has been removed from all assignments pending the outcome of the investigation.
Our screening procedures comply with the South Carolina Department of Education’s rigorous standards and include comprehensive background checks, which cover local, state, and national criminal records, as well as the National Sex Offender Registry and crimes against children. In addition to state standards, our vetting system strictly adheres to all district requirements, ensuring we maintain the highest safety standards. The substitute educator passed all screenings at the time of employment. We have no further comment due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
Brown was booked into the Hill-Finklea Detention Center in Moncks Corner on the two charges; however, she was released shortly after on a personal recognizance bond, court records show.
