‘Messed with the wrong mama’: Male teacher allegedly slaps 4-year-old girl in face twice in class — and girl’s mom is fuming

The mother of a 4-year-old girl said a male substitute teacher slapped her daughter in the face twice inside a pre-K classroom at a Texas elementary school last week, KPRC-TV reported.

“Messed with the wrong mama, that’s all I gotta say,” Marissa Braughton told the station. “I will not back down until this is figured out and until this is done.”

‘No child — especially my baby girl — should have to go through this.’

The Spring Independent School District is investigating the allegation, KPRC added. Spring is a little over 30 minutes north of Houston.

Braughton told the station the incident occurred Tuesday afternoon at Smith Elementary School and that her daughter was screaming and crying when she picked her up.

“I get down to her level. I’m like, ‘Baby, what’s wrong? Tell Mama what happened.’ And she immediately is like, ‘The teacher hit me.’ I said, ‘The teacher hit you?’ And she said, ‘Yes, the boy teacher, the substitute teacher.’ I said, ‘The boy teacher?’ And she’s like, ‘Yes, Mama. He hit me twice. And I heard my neck make a sound,'” Braughton added to KPRC.

Braughton told the station she reported what her daughter told her to the school’s assistant principal and that she was informed that it would be looked into the next day. Braughton added to KPRC that she also filed a police report.

But the mother believes more should be happening, the station said. “Why haven’t we talked to these students yet? We’re about to go into the weekend where these kids might forget what they saw. They’re 4-year-olds.”

KPRC said it received the following statement from the school district:

Spring ISD was made aware of an allegation involving a substitute teacher and a student at Smith Elementary School on Tuesday evening. Campus and district administrators immediately began an investigation. The substitute teacher has been removed from the classroom pending the outcome of the investigation.

The safety and well-being of students remains our top priority. Due to the ongoing investigation, we are unable to share additional details at this time.

RELATED: High school teacher with 40-year career barred from campus after slapping student in the face

“Every school district takes these types of allegations very seriously,” Spring ISD AFT union lawyer Chris Tritico told the station, while adding that federal law limits what school districts can publicly disclose.

“That does not mean they’re not doing anything,” he noted to KPRC. “It just means they can’t tell them that they’ve interviewed these students, who they are, and what they’ve told them.”

Tritico also told the station that state law mandates that school districts “investigate these things immediately. Within 24 hours of the allegation, whether they’ve done anything or not, they have to report it to the State Board for Educator Certification and the [Child Protective Services]. That report was made, and the state agencies are conducting their investigations.”

KPRC asked Tritico what parents can do in situations like this.

“God bless her for wanting to take care of her child and being concerned,” he replied to the station. “But just because they can’t do it in the timeline the parent wants doesn’t mean it’s not being done.”

Regardless, Braughton told KPRC her daughter is traumatized and she’ll remain resolute in her fight.

“She’s 4 years old,” she added to the station. “No child — especially my baby girl — should have to go through this.”

Braughton also told KPRC that she removed her daughter from the school and is homeschooling her.

The district confirmed to the station that the substitute teacher has been removed — but whether the teacher can return will depend on the investigation’s outcome.

KPRC reported that in a letter sent to parents Friday — three days after the alleged incident — the school district said the substitute teacher “made inappropriate use of force on a student.”

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