Florida parents are calling for the arrest of a local priest who allegedly whipped their fourth-grader with a belt at a private religious school.
An angry mother and father allege Terence Gray entered the classroom where their 9- and 10-year-old children were at St. AME Church’s Alpha Learning Academy. Mark in Orlando on Thursday afternoon demanded to know the misbehaving students. .
Gray allegedly asked the child to stand up and admit to misbehaving.
It’s unclear if anyone did, but the student’s teacher ended up shooing the notoriously misbehaving student and forcing them to stand, according to WFTV.
The priest is accused of then removing his belt and giving three lashes each to more than a dozen students – leaving several with bruises on their legs.
Facebook/Saint Mark AME Orlando
“He said he was going to hit us with a belt because we were bad,” student Shane Walker told WFTV.
The boy’s mother, Janesha Martin, said she was “very emotional” when she heard what happened.
“I did not send my child to school to be abused by anyone,” he said, adding, “The pastor should have been arrested last night!”
Gray is running for Congress in 2021, touting his “positive” work in the community.Facebook/Saint Mark AME Orlando Young student Shane Walker said the priest threatened to whip them because they were “evil.”WFTV
When confronted about the beating, Gray said the student volunteered to be whipped, Martin alleged.
“Pastor Gray said that the child volunteered, that was a lie,” he said. “My son would not volunteer for that kind of… disciplinary action.”
Meanwhile, another mother, Kinshasa Felix, said she pulled her daughter out of school after the child was beaten for drawing pictures of children and handing them to students.
“What makes a man want to whip a child like that?” he asked.
Parents said the school handbook does not list corporal punishment as an acceptable form of punishment at school. WFTV Janesha Martin, Walker’s mother, said the priest claimed the student volunteered for the punishment.WFTV
The mother said that when she told school administrators she would be expelling her child, they gave her a form to sign — which indicated the reason for the girl’s withdrawal was “academic.”
Felix insisted on writing “child abuse” instead.
The angry mothers said the school’s handbook does not list caning as an acceptable form of punishment, and that although Gray is the senior pastor of the church that runs the school, he should not be involved in its day-to-day operations.
The principal of Alpha Learning Academy did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment on Monday. A separate email sent to an email address listed for Gray on the church’s website was returned.
Gray has been the senior pastor at St. AME Church. Mark since 2004, according to his LinkedIn.
The pastor is running for Congress in 2021, touting his “positive” work in the community. Facebook/Saint Mark AME Orlando Gray has been hired as senior pastor at St. Mark in 2004, according to his LinkedIn. Facebook/Saint Mark AME Orlando
Her profile says, “Empowering people to be who God wants them to be is my greatest joy. Freeing them to leave Egypt in their lives is the most important thing.”
Gray is running for Congress in 2021, touting his “positive” work in the community. He lost the race.
“His work impacting positive change has been recognized with awards from the AME Church, the NAACP and the city of Macon, [Georgia],” his campaign website said.
Orlando police are now investigating the alleged beating, saying they were called shortly after the student reported the beating.
None of the children were seriously injured, and no paramedics were called to the scene, according to WESH.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
