CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A former teacher’s aide at Horace Mann Middle School in Charleston has pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor battery after allegedly abusing nonverbal special education students.
James Lynch, 38, appeared in front of Kanawha County Circuit Judge Maryclaire Akers for a plea hearing on Monday. Lynch was indicted in Oct. 2021 on seven counts of misdemeanor battery.
The indictment alleged that Lynch struck a student identified as N.H. multiple times from Feb. to Mar. 2021. He is additionally accused of squeezing the child’s hand and shoving the student.
“He was charging, running around the room and I pushed him down on the bean bag,” Lynch said after pleading guilty.
The two counts Lynch pleaded guilty to were two separate incidents, one occurring Feb. 25 and the other Mar. 4, Lynch’s attorney said.
Prosecutors said they intended to ask that Lynch serve the sentence on the two counts of battery concurrently. A battery charge carries a sentence of not more than 12 months in jail.
Kanawha County Schools has said it learned of the alleged incidents during an investigation of alleged abuse by a teacher and two other aides.
The three other staff members — 45-year-old Anthony Wilson, 71-year-old Walter Pannell and 65-year-old Lillian Branham — face charges after allegedly being caught on camera physically and verbally abusing students in a special needs classroom.
Lynch was arrested on the charges following the indictment but since bonded out of jail. He was fired by Kanawha County Schools on Oct. 4.
Lynch will be sentenced on June 2.