Cobb Teacher Indicted On Cruelty To Children Charge: Courts

COBB COUNTY, GA — Authorities say a former Cobb County School District special education teacher forced a 5-year-old child in her care to sit in his waste for hours in 2019 to "prove a point" about using the restroom, and now she's been indicted by a grand jury.

Kelly Lewis, who was a teacher at Frey Elementary School in Acworth, was indicted Thursday on one felony count of first degree cruelty to children, according to Cobb County Superior Court records. Lewis was 56 at the time of her arrest in December 2019, and initially faced a second degree cruelty to children charge.

The arrest warrant obtained by the CCSD Police Department has language detailing that the 5-year-old student defecated in his pants, and witnesses told investigators that Lewis made him sit in it for nearly two hours.

"Said child did suffer redness and irritation to his buttocks as well as mental pain as a result of the teacher's actions," according to the arrest warrant.

Lewis was booked into the Cobb County Jail, but posted a $5,720 bond just hours after her arrest, Patch previously reported.

First degree cruelty to children could involve a more serious penalty than Lewis' initial second degree charge. According to Georgia law, a person convicted of cruelty to children in the first degree faces between five and 20 years of prison time, while second degree of the same charge faces one-10 years of prison time.

Additionally, first degree cruelty to children requires that a person "willfully deprives the child of necessary sustenance to the extend that the child's health or well-being is jeopardized" or "maliciously causes a child under the age of 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain," according to state law.

Second degree cruelty to children requires only that a person "with criminal negligence causes a child under the age of 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain."

Read more: Frey ES Special Needs Teacher Charged With Cruelty To Children