Rutherford High School teacher suspended without pay in light of child abuse charge

PANAMA CITY — On Aug. 4, a Rutherford High School teacher was arrested on a child abuse charge.

On Aug. 13, the Bay County School Board approved a motion to suspend the teacher without pay while the case is investigated.

The incident took place at a Burlington store at 540 Hawkins Ave. in Panama City.

The teacher, Chelarishi Rivera, is accused of placing a student in a headlock after being asked a question. In an arrest affidavit, Panama City Police described the conduct as "cruelty toward child - abuse without great harm."

According to the arrest affidavit, the student — whose age was not listed — approached Rivera and asked her if she was the teacher of another family member involved another incident. The student's name was redacted from the arrest affidavit.

The affidavit says Rivera asked a store employee to call security on the student due to harassment.

After the student asked how she was harassing Rivera, the student began to walk away. Rivera then allegedly turned around and “clothes-lined” the student and put her in a headlock, according to the affidavit.

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"Video surveillance in the store captured this incident in its entirety and shows that at no point did the victim touch or strike the defendant and was actually attempting to walk away from the defendant just prior to being placed in a headlock," the arrest affidavit says.

Phone messages left for Rivera were not returned on Monday.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Rutherford High School teacher suspended without pay in light of child abuse charge