Charles Moore, the principal of Walter D. Hadnot Elementary School, was released on a $2,500 bail bond from the Rapides Parish Jail following his arrest Friday for one count of cruelty to juveniles.
An Alexandria principal was arrested Friday on a charge of excessively whipping a child.
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Charles Moore, the principal of Walter D. Hadnot Elementary School, was released on a $2,500 bail bond from the Rapides Parish Jail following his arrest Friday for one count of cruelty to juveniles.
Charles Moore, principal of Walter D. Hadnot Elementary School, was arrested on one count of cruelty to juveniles Friday after an investigation. Alexandria Police detectives responded to a complaint made by Cindy Finister that Moore excessively whipped her 6-year-old daughter on Tuesday.
Finister complained of severe bruising on her daughter's buttocks.
Rapides Parish Assistant Superintendent Lyle Hutchinson declined to comment on the incident or to specify whether Moore would return Monday to head the school. The school does not have an assistant principal.
Police began an investigation about 3 p.m. Thursday and Moore, 51, of 108 Alpha Drive in Lafayette, was arrested at 12:15 p.m. Friday. He was booked in the parish jail at 1:38 p.m. and was released on a $2,500 bail bond.
The principal previously was convicted of a felony theft in 1980. The Town Talk was unable to contact Moore for comment after he was released.
The Rapides Parish School Board Student Code of Conduct allows for no more than six strokes of corporal punishment on the buttocks, only after all other methods of punishment have been exhausted. However, the online Policy Manual states that it is "impermissible" for school-district employees to strike a student for any disciplinary reason.
Finister's daughter was sent to the principal's office for biting a female classmate, an act the 6-year-old denies, the mother said. The child told her mother that she was swatted four times.
The pupil has been in trouble at school in the past for "confrontations" and once had to spend a week doing her schoolwork in the office, Finister said.
"I know corporal punishment is legal, but you don't bruise a child," Finister said.
All tenured employees are subject to a School Board hearing before dismissal for any reason.
Carita Jordan: 487-6329; cjordan@thetowntalk.com
Emily Peters: 487-6372; epeters@thetowntalk.com
