Teacher Cleared, Harford State's Attorney Calls Case 'Weird'

says the case against the Fountain Green Elementary School teacher accused of biting a student was not appropriate for criminal prosecution.

John Hickey, was one of his students in June of 2011. He has since been cleared of an assault charge and reinstated with Harford County Public Schools.

Hickey's lawyer, issued a release Wednesday announcing the assault charge had been dismissed and ultimately expunged.

Hickey will return the classroom in the upcoming school year, moving to Deerfield Elementary in Edgewood to teach third grade.

"While it was a weird case it was not a criminal case," Cassilly told Patch Thursday.

Cassilly explained the incident was not entirely fabricated, but fell into the domain of something the school system could handle administratively.

"It was one of those crazy things where he was in the school situation and said to some student 'if you’re going to do this, I’m going to do that,'" Cassilly said.

He went on to say that the student allegedly bit the teacher.

"The student did it, we think, daring him and perhaps he made a biting motion," Cassilly said.

Cassilly said while Hickey may have held the girl's arm, there was no other contact. Hickey did not bite a student, Cassilly confirmed.

The incident was witnessed by other people who felt the reaction was inappropriate, but the girl didn’t file a complaint, Cassilly said.

"It just was one of those things that didn’t need to be in a criminal court before a criminal jury," Cassilly said.

In a release, Carey said while reinstatement with the school system and expunging of the charges were the and right outcomes, they do not make up for the year Hickey spent as a "pariah" as a result of the charge.

"Those assault charges should never have been brought in the first place. That's why we petitioned, and succeeded, in having the charges EXPUNGED," Carey said in the release.