Teacher accused of breaking student's hand back in court
A former Cloverdale Middle School teacher accused of breaking a student's hand during an altercation in the classroom on Jan. 11 will be back in court next week.
Thirty-one-year-old Scott W. Porter, who pleaded not guilty to a charge of felony battery, appeared with his attorney Jeff Boggess in court last week where the judge ordered him to return to court at 3 p.m. March 31.
According to a probable cause affidavit, 15-year-old student Jordan Mundy was making fun of Porter, which angered the teacher and caused him to come after the boy. Mundy told investigators he tried to flee the classroom, but Porter grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him up against the chalkboard.
Mundy accused Porter of putting him in a headlock and wrestling him to the floor where he then struck him in the ribs several times. Mundy says he grabbed Porter by the neck and that Porter responded by grabbing his index finger and hyper-extending it backwards, causing it to break. A doctor examined Mundy's finger and determined in was in fact broken, according to Putnam County Prosecutor's Investigator Charlie Bollinger.
In an interview with Bollinger, Porter denied the claims, stating that Mundy staggered backwards and hit the chalkboard.
He denies ever placing Mundy in a headlock or touching his finger during the incident.
Bollinger interviewed other students who claimed to have witnessed Porter break Mundy's finger that day.
Porter was allowed to resign after the allegations surfaced, ending an eight-year career at Cloverdale.