MOUNT BLANCHARD, OH (Toledo News Now) - The lawyer representing the family of a boy grabbed by his teacher and lifted up by the face says a special prosecutor should be appointed in the case.
Barb Williams, a teacher in the Riverdale district, was caught on camera lifting 6-year-old Ian Nelson off the ground by his face.
Williams has been charged with one misdemeanor count of child endangering. The boy's parents have called for more severe charges.
On Thursday Jennifer Atzberger, who represents the Nelson family, sent a letter to the attorney prosecuting the case asking that a special prosecutor be appointed by the Ohio Attorney General.
Below is an expert from the letter explaining Atzberger's reasoning behind the request.
We ask that you immediately dismiss without prejudice the one count of misdemeanor child endangering that you have filed against this teacher, and instead, make a direct request to the Attorney General's office to have an independent special prosecutor assigned to investigate and prosecute this case.
As you know, the husband of the teacher accused of abusing this student, Jim Williams, is the Chaplain for the Hancock County Sheriff's Department. Furthermore, he is a member of the Sheriff's Critical Incident Stress Management Team. This puts Mr. Williams in a position where he is a very necessary and trusted member of your department. At best, the decision to charge the teacher involved in this vicious assault on a student with a single count of misdemeanor child endangering, when the video and witness testimony clearly reveals evidence of assault, aggravated menacing, felony abduction, and felony child endangering (with abuse being more than evident) gives the appearance of institutional bias. At worst, it reveals a conflict of interest when a law enforcement agency investigates the wrong-doing of individuals whose family members are directly connected with their agency.
Watch raw video of the incident here.
Read the full letter here: http://ftpcontent4.worldnow.com/wtol/pdf/RequestSpecialProsecutor.pdf
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