Principal accused of assaulting a teacher

BROOKLYN (WABC) -- Police charged a school principal for allegedly assaulting a teacher.

The alleged assault happened inside P.S. 20 on Adelphi Street in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn on Thursday morning.

"I'm on the ground. He's kicking me. He's beating me," kindergarten teacher Robert Segarra said.

One minute he was in a morning meeting, the next he says he was laying on the ground being beaten, slapped and kicked allegedly by his school's principal.

"Everytime I said I'm not hitting you. I got another hit in the head," Segarra explained.

Segarra says principal Sean Keaton lost it during a heated argument about allegations of student abuse by a special ed teacher.

Segarra is a teachers union representative.

He says the accused teacher and the assistant principal froze during the alleged beating inside the principal's office.

The 49-year-old Segarra says the bruises on his arms and neck put him in the hospital.

"I made sure that when I got my belongings that my kids were at lunch. They didn't need to see this," he said.

Principal Keaton couldn't be reached for comment, but the union that represents him and other principals issued a statement:

"CSA is aware that there was an incident that occurred between one of our members and a teacher. Until we investigate the situation thoroughly, we can not comment."

The teachers union followed up with its own statement:

"Principals have to be held accountable to a code of conduct in schools just like teachers and students are. They have no right to harass or bully teachers, much less physically assault them."

Keaton was charged with misdemeanor assault and released.

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