An employee at a Gillette junior high school has been charged with felony child abuse for allegedly roughing up a student who was being “flippant” with him.
Cody Eckhardt, born in 1993, had his first court appearance Friday on a single charge of child abuse, accused of assaulting a student at Sage Valley Junior High School.
The allegations include hitting the student’s head into lockers in the hallway, Gillette Police Department Officer Carissa Lewis wrote in an affidavit of probable cause filed in Eckhardt’s case.
Eckhardt, an information technology employee at the school, reportedly admitted to losing his temper with the student, the affidavit says.
“Cody grabbed (the student) around the back of his neck and squeezed while pushing him toward the lockers,” Lewis wrote about how Eckhardt described the altercation. “Cody called (the student) a ‘little shit,’ and then released (him) and walked away.”
The student then “immediately” went to the office of Principal Adam Miller and remained there until Officer Lewis arrived, the affidavit says.
‘Yes Sir’
The Thursday altercation began when Eckhardt was walking down a hallway with the student to retrieve the student’s laptop, the affidavit says.
“Cody told (him) not to do this again, referring to losing or breaking his laptop,” Lewis wrote. “(The student) replied ‘yes sir.’
“Cody once again told (him) not to do this again, and (the student) again responded ‘yes sir.’”
Later when talking with police, Eckhardt “admitted that when (the student) said ‘yes sir’ again, he felt (he) was being ‘flippant,’ which caused Cody to lose his temper,” the affidavit continues.
Roughed Up
When Officer Lewis arrived at the school, she saw the student in the principal’s office, the affidavit says.
“I met with the student … (and he) had very obvious redness on the back and sides of his neck, and scratches with a small amount of blood on them, which were bandaged by (the school nurse),” Lewis wrote.
The student also said he had a bump on his head from where it hit the lockers.
Calls to the school principal and to Campbell County School District 1 Superintendent Alex Ayers weren’t returned by the time this story was published.
The only publicly listed phone number for Eckhardt goes to a message that the number is no longer in service.
Eckhardt was released from the Campbell County Detention Center on Friday after posting a $5,000 bond, according to the jail and court records.
A preliminary hearing has been set for April 20 in Campbell County Circuit Court. If convicted, he could get up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
