Police say a Catholic school employee in Seattle has been accused of removing his belt and hitting two children with it.
The Seattle Times reported the employee of St. Therese Catholic Academy has been put on administrative leave while an investigation proceeds.
A Seattle police report says the two students apparently had ignored the employee’s repeated orders to stop throwing pencils at each other when the man reportedly hit them on the buttocks with a belt. Police say neither student needed any treatment for injuries. Both returned to classes that day.
Seattle Catholic Archdiocese spokesman Greg Magnoni says the man was filling in as a before-school care supervisor for a teacher who had called in sick.
Magnoni says the principal followed policy, asking the employee to leave, then contacting parents and police Wednesday. He says the school will decide what action to take with the employee when the investigation is complete.
