CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A second former teacher’s aide at a Kanawha County middle school has pleaded guilty in connection to the investigation into alleged abuse of nonverbal special education students.
Walter Pannell, 72, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to four counts of misdemeanor battery before Kanawha Circuit Judge Carrie Webster on Monday. Pannell’s plea comes exactly one week after another aide in the classroom at Horace Mann Middle School in Charleston, James Lynch, 38, pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery.
Pannell admitted to what he did last year to a student later identified as “N.H.” Pannell was arrested May 2021.
“I did grab N.H.’s forehead and push his head back,” Pannell said. “On April 13, at Horace Mann, I did grab N.H. by the neck and grabbed his head back.”
Pannell added that on April 13, he pushed the same child “in the face with his finger.”
According to a criminal complaint upon his arrest, Pannell grabbed another student identified as “T.R.”
“On the 17th day of March, I did place my hand over T.R.’s face, forcing her head back,” he said.
Kanawha County Schools has said it learned of the alleged incidents during an investigation of alleged verbal and physical abuse by a teacher and three aides, which was caught on video surveillance.
Pannell’s attorney, J.A. Curia said on Monday that the case presents challenges from a defense standpoint due to video evidence.
“While some of the claims are more defensible than others, I think it would have been challenging to obtain acquittal on all four in light of the video evidence that could have been produced by the state,” Curia said.
As each battery charge carries a sentence of not more than 12 months in jail, Pannell faces up to four years in jail. He will be sentenced on July 20 at 9 a.m.
Lynch will be sentenced on June 2.
The two other suspects, Anthony Wilson, 45, and Lillian Branham, 65, both of Beckley, face charges of battery.