The North Carolina sheriff’s deputy allegedly caught on camera twice body-slamming an 11-year-old student has been fired and charged with assault, according to authorities.
School resource officer Warren Durham was fired earlier this week after an investigation into disturbing video allegedly showing him throwing the young Vance County Middle School student to the ground two times and dragging him down the hall.
The Vance County sheriff’s deputy was on Tuesday charged with assault on a child under 12, misdemeanor child abuse and willful failure to discharge his duties, county District Attorney Mike Waters announced.
All three charges carry a maximum penalty of 120 days in jail.
“I shared our findings with the family,” Waters said. “I think they’re disappointed and frustrated that this is not a felony case. However, this issue turns on the fact that this child was not more seriously injured.”
Surveillance video from Vance County Middle School in Henderson last Thursday showed the 11-year-old being picked up and slammed to the floor twice before being dragged off camera.
The boy — just 11 and half the size of the man who threw him — was taken to a hospital for observation and treatment.
Authorities said they do not know what caused the incident, but nothing would justify the deputy’s actions.
“I don’t think there’s any kind of training or anything like that that would lead someone to act in that way with an 11-year-old,” Waters said.
The boy’s grandfather, pastor John Miles, earlier told WRAL, “I don’t care what happened. My grandson should never have been attacked by a grown man that we trust in law enforcement.
“Look at the video. He could have been killed.”
He said the family has yet to decide whether to sue over the incident.
“As a pastor, I have to forgive him,” Miles said. “As a grandfather, I’m just hurt right now.”
With Post wires
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