Arkansas school director accused of orchestrating ‘child fight club’
A director of a private school in Jonesboro, Arkansas is being accused of orchestrating a “child fight club.” Three other employees have also been charged.
JONESBORO, Ark. — A private school director and three employees are facing charges of permitting child abuse for what the prosecuting attorney is calling a “makeshift child fight club.”
The charges come after Craighead County Judge David Boling and Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood found probable cause to charge the four people after law enforcement officials viewed a video showing a student striking another while in the presence of 50-year-old Mary Tracy Morrison, the school director.
The other three arrested are 45-year-old Kathrine Mae Lipscomb, 38-year-old Michael Bean, and 36-year-old Danielle Bell. All four a being charged with permitting child abuse.
Police say that in the video Morrison, who is the founder of The Delta Institute for Developing the Brain in Jonesboro, can be seen sitting in the middle of a circle with a student and surrounded by 18 other students.
Morrison is seen on video “putting her hands on” the student in the circle and encouraging other students they could hit the student. The victim was also reportedly choked and punched by other students “on more than one occasion” and hit in the private area.
“Morrison encouraged other juvenile students to mentally and physically abuse the juvenile student and Dr. Morrison also appeared to verbally and physically abuse the juvenile child,” a police report said of the incident.
At one point in the video, Morrison allegedly high fives a student after they choked the victim. During this encounter, Lipscomb is reportedly “sitting at her desk” and Bean enters the classroom and can be seen “watching as the [victim] was being assaulted.” Bell is also seen on the video entering the classroom and walking to the desk where Lipscomb was seated.
The incident lasted around 30 minutes, according to the police report.
In addition to their permitting child abuse charges, the three employees are being charged with failure to notify.
Morrison is facing 11 counts of permitting child abuse, 18 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, and failure to notify.
We will update this article with more information as it becomes available.