LUMBERTON — A teacher at a Lumberton elementary school has been charged with assaulting an 8-year-old student after the child poked her with a stick, according to Erich Hackney, an investigator with the Robeson County District Attorney’s Office.
Valerie Denise Monroe, 40, resigned from her position at W.H. Knuckles Elementary before the charges were filed, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The Public Schools of Robeson County could not be reached immediately today for comment.
Hackney charged Monroe earlier today with assaulting a child under 12 and with false imprisonment.
According to a statement from Hackney, the incident occurred on March 24 and was referred to the District Attorney’s Office for investigation because it involved an employee of the Public Schools of Robeson County.
“The subsequent investigation revealed that Monroe picked up an 8-year-old child and slammed him to the floor after the child poked her with a small stick,” the statement said. “Monroe then placed her hand around the child’s throat, pinning him to the floor.”
Monroe was released from the Robeson County Detention Center on a $5,000 unsecured bond and is scheduled to appear in Robeson County District Court on Aug. 18. Lumberton Police Officer Yvette Pitts, the school resource officer at W.H. Knuckles, assisted in the investigation.
No photograph of Monroe was available from the jail. The Robesonian was provided with an image from her driver’s license that is published with this story. The Robesonian will update this story as details warrant.
