Child Abuse Investigation Underway at Pikeville Elementary
PIKEVILLE, Tenn. (WDEF) – Two educators in Bledsoe County are at the center of a child abuse investigation.
Today was the first day back for students in Bledsoe County since last Wednesday due to a combination of illness, weather and holiday closings.
Students at Pikeville Elementary School came back in the heart of controversy.
25-year-old Chloe Frizzell and 63-year-old Shelia Schmidt are the two women charged each with one count of child abuse.
Chloe Frizzell is listed as a special education assistant at Pikeville Elementary School on their website.
Shelia Schmidt is not listed as an employee at Pikeville Elementary on their website.
News 12 received the affidavits from the Bledsoe County Courthouse.
Both of these affidavits detail incidents that happened inside of a classroom inside of Pikeville Elementary School.
A detective for the Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Office was notified by Pikeville Elementary School Principal Lee Ann Morris per the Director of the Schools for Bledsoe County, Selina Sparkman.
The detective for the Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Office said that he reviewed video footage of the incident from Pikeville Elementary.
That video has not been made public.
Chloe Frizzell, the 25 year old special education teacher charged with child abuse, (Courtesy: Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Department)
The detective says in the affidavit that both Frizzell and Schmidt threw objects at students inside of the classroom, with Frizzell’s affidavit stating that her thrown object struck the student.
Schmidt’s affidavit states that she then grabbed a female student’s hair and drug her approximately 8-to-10 feet on the ground to put the student back in a seat.
Frizzell’s affidavit states that she shoved a student down to the ground.
Director Sparkman for Bledsoe County posted a Facebook message last night shortly after 9 p.m. central time for parents.
In the statement, Director Sparkman states that Bledsoe County Schools have terminated six employees related to this incident.
She says that Bledsoe County will not release any more information at this time due to the ongoing investigation, and will not detail which employees were fired.
Director Sparkman went on to say, “This is in no way indicative of the care that is demonstrated for our students on a daily basis.”
Comments are disabled on the Facebook post.
Both Frizzell and Schmidt were arrested last Wednesday, February 15.
They did bond out of jail on a $7,500 signature bond.
They will both be in court on March 6.
Shelia Schmidt, a 63 year old employee charged with child abuse. (Courtesy: Bledsoe County Sheriff’s Department
