Former Kansas teacher caught on video kicking child pleads guilty, receives probation
A 55-year-old former teacher in the Shawnee Mission School District was granted probation after she pleaded guilty to kicking a kindergartner, according to court documents.
Crystal Smith, whose address is listed in Kansas City, North, pleaded guilty Thursday in Johnson County District Court to the misdemeanor charge of battery. Smith was sentenced to 30 days in jail but was granted a year of probation.
Smith, who was a teacher at Bluejacket-Flint Elementary School in the Shawnee Mission School District was caught on surveillance video kicking the 5-year-old girl in February 2019.
The video shows the child lying in a bookshelf in the library after other students had filed out. Smith pulls the girl out of the bookshelf and walks away. She returns and after another staff member in the library turns her back, Smith kicks the child in the back.
The student’s mother learned of the incident when she picked up her daughter after school and confronted Smith, who denied inflicting any harm. Smith allegedly said the girl was not being truthful and any injuries or marks may have been self-inflicted, according to court documents.
The girl’s mother contacted the school the day of the incident and officials checked for a record and viewed the video. When administrators called Smith in to discuss the incident, she was placed on leave and her employment was terminated once the investigation was completed, a district spokesman said at the time.
The district said this was Smith’s first year teaching in the district.
A lawsuit the mother brought is pending in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas, against the Shawnee Mission School District and Smith.
The child’s mother contends that no one attempted to contact her to inform her of the incident and that had her daughter not told her what happened it is possible it would never have been reported.
The lawsuit contends the girls’ civil rights were violated and that the district was negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of Smith.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 3:13 PM.
