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A substitute teacher at Henry County High School was arrested Friday after allegedly striking three students at the school with a paddle for no disciplinary reason.

Kristopher Sanders, 29, of McKenzie, was charged with three counts of simple assault after several people sent footage of the incident to the Henry County Sheriff’s Department.

During a press conference this morning, Henry County Sheriff Monte Belew said Sanders was teaching shop at HCHS Thursday when the incident occurred.

“At the time, three students requested to do some other things other than school work,” Belew said.

Belew said Sanders told the students that they could take a 2-by-4 into the shop, make a paddle and take one strike from the paddle, and they would then be allowed to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the class period.

Video of one of the paddlings was shown during the press conference, and is available at www.parispi.net. In the footage, Sanders is shown winding up and taking a full baseball-type swing into the buttocks of one of the students.

“The strike was very extreme and negligent we believe,” Belew said. “The strike Mister Sanders gave does violate school policy as being an unwitnessed paddling or assault. We believe the three juveniles hadn’t done anything wrong to be disciplined. They were just willing to take a strike in return for the favor of (Sanders) allowing them to do whatever they wanted.”

Belew said he is in favor of paddling in schools, but believed this incident crossed the line.

“The strike was extremely hard, two handed, and all of his weight was put into the strike,” Belew said. “If it would have struck somewhere other than the buttocks, it could have caused extreme physical pain and injury.”

Several students took cell phone video of the incident, Belew said, and the Sheriff’s Department received numerous complaints about it.

“I don’t think you’d want your child being hit in that manner,” Damon Lowe, director of the Sheriff’s Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, said.

“(The victims are) not there to bargain with the teacher in the way we see it. They’re at school to learn. You send your child there to be in a safe haven and get an education, not to be hit with this stick or whatever you call it.”

Lowe said John Hinson, interim director of Henry County Schools, has seen the video and agreed with the Sheriff’s Department’s assessment.

“That’s not the type of school they’re trying to portray,” Lowe said.

He added that Sanders is not allowed to teach in any Henry County school until this situation is resolved.

Lowe also said that disciplinary action for the students involved is up to the school system, but he doesn’t believe any will be forthcoming.

Lowe said Sanders is pursuing a teaching career and had just completed getting his master’s degree. He has no prior criminal record.

Sanders has already posted a $1,000 bond and is scheduled to appear Jan. 12 in Henry County General Sessions Court.