UNION — Two Union County High School students are facing charges for allegedly assaulting a classmate in class while the teacher responsible for supervising them has been placed on leave pending an internal investigation.
Christopher Gene Wyatt, 17, 1143 Tinker Creek Road, Union, and a 16-year-old were charged by the Union Public Safety Department with third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
The incident report stated that the victim told a school administrator that she was attacked by Wyatt and the juvenile shortly after 11 a.m. Monday while watching a video in Auto Tech class. The victim said that when the video began and the lights were off, the juvenile, who was sitting to her left, started rubbing her leg. She said she told him to stop and take his hand off her leg.
The victim said the juvenile stopped rubbing her leg, but then put his bookbag over his lap and forced her hand onto his genitals which she said he’d taken out of his pants.
The victim said that Wyatt, who was sitting to her right, grabbed her other hand. She said she asked them to stop and they did, but Wyatt again grabbed her hand while the juvenile stuck his hand into her pocket and began rubbing her crotch area. The victim said she asked the juvenile to stop but he didn’t until Wyatt let go of her hand.
She said she pulled the juvenile’s hand out of her pocket, but then he and Wyatt began touching her buttocks.
The victim said another student told Wyatt and the juvenile to stop, but the juvenile continued to touch her about the body and make lewd remarks. By that point, she said Wyatt had stopped.
Wyatt and the juvenile were arrested shortly after the incident was reported. Wyatt was taken to jail. He was released on bond Wednesday.
The juvenile was taken to the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice Detention Center in Columbia.
In a statement released Thursday morning, Union County School District Superintendent Dr. Kristi Woodall said the school district is conducting its own investigation into the incident. Woodall gave no further details because the investigation is ongoing. She did say, however, that the teacher has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Woodall did not reveal the teacher’s name.
Editor Charles Warner can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 14, or by email at cwarner@heartlandpublications.com.
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