Ex-teacher pleads guilty to assault
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN– Former Youngstown City Schools special education teacher Geraldine DeWitt pleaded guilty this week to assaulting a student in April 2019 while working at McGuffey Elementary.
Judge Renee DiSalvo of Youngstown Municipal Court will sentence DeWitt, 62, on Tuesday.
DeWitt is no longer a teacher in the school district, the district stated in an email.
What DeWitt did “goes against (school) policy, and it is never appropriate to use force with a child,” spokesperson Denise Dick said when asked for a comment on DeWitt’s guilty plea.
During the court hearing, Jasmine Hyde, mother of the victim, said her son “is a miracle child” and has special needs.
“He required special attention, and I trusted you with that,” she said.
Judge DiSalvo said, “You were not just a teacher. You were a teacher of special needs. That is a bigger responsibility.”
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