Photo Courtesy of KENS 5/Facebook
A Texas vice principal was acquitted of an injury to a child charge imposed on her six months ago.
Although relieved about the dropped charge, Tara Hunter sought a public apology from the courts.
“Even though the charges have been dropped because there was no evidence, I am still a victim of the social media platform,” Hunter said. “I sit here today asking for an apology on the same platform.”
According to KENS 5, a subsidiary of CBS, Hunter has been an educator for 20 years and was the vice principal at the IDEA Amber Creek school, now known as IDEA Ambrose and Freda Robinson in San Antonio. A 5-year-old boy alleged Hunter inflicted injury on him.
The report specifically said that she pushed the child into a metal cabinet after the child was acting unruly and punched him “in the face or head.”
“She then tried to make a counteraccusation against the young boy. There’s no doubt in our mind; he admits that he struck her,” Salazar said. “But this is a 5-year-old. Educators, especially school administrators like this, should be more than capable of handling that. As it looks now, this was handled way inappropriately.”
Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar posted on Facebook that the child had tangible injuries on him, which caused investigators to act on the third-degree felony accusation swiftly.
After learning of the accusation, Hunter said she contacted investigators and told them she would cooperate with the investigation. The educator felt humiliated once officials arrived at her home and took her into custody without allowing her to respond to the matter.
Hunter and her family members were under a lot of pressure after having to raise money quickly for her attorney fees upfront and $10,000 bond.
Three different agencies looked at the claims and found they held no merit, and Bexar County officials dismissed them in September. Hunter expressed gratitude for the dismissed claims but said the emotional damage inflicted lingered.
Hunter stated that the day she was arrested changed her life and her husband’s, a retired veteran. Hunter’s family is a part of the military community, and a good reputation follows when a part of it. Since her arrest, Hunter feels like she has disappointed the military.
“I feel like I let the military down,” she said. “We are a military family. We have served for 20 years. My husband has served in every capacity. I need the sheriff to know he has brought shame to the military family.”
Standing alongside Hunter was her pastor and a community member. Reverend Jerry Dailey, Macedonia Baptist Church pastor, said her arrest could’ve been avoided.
“I have been a pastor for 37 years. I know these individuals,” Dailey said. “Most people don’t know the Hunters. I do. If it doesn’t fit. You must acquit. Well, in this situation, it didn’t fit. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
He added, “What if this had been a charge levied against a white principal or assistant principal? Would action have taken place that fast? I raise that question because those are questions our community would be concerned with.”
A supporter of Hunter named Christopher Herring said that it was wrong of the sheriff to handle the situation the way he did.
BCSO officials made a statement explaining their actions.
“At the root of this case is a little boy who sustained real injuries, and protecting him is our top priority,” the statement said. “We made the decision to arrest based upon cause presented to a judge. The case is still ongoing in our office, and we will continue to investigate. We will defer to the District Attorney’s Office as to why they took the actions that they did.”
Hunter’s employer at the school agreed to have her work at the school again and will assign her new work.