7th grade teacher accused of spanking SC students

LAKE WYLIE, S.C. (AP) - December 7, 2011 (WPVI) -- A South Carolina middle school teacher has turned himself in to authorities to face assault and battery charges after he was accused of spanking three students.

Forty-eight-year-old Chris Petrasek turned himself in to sheriff's deputies late Wednesday morning. Petrasek is a seventh-grade math teacher at Oakridge Middle School in Lake Wylie.

The area's schools have a policy against using corporal punishment or any physical force to discipline students.

The students said they were spanked for getting a low grade, missing a question or talking out of turn.

The boys say they were spanked between September and November.

Petrasek also coached wrestling at the school. He's been on leave since Nov. 22. Petrasek had worked in the Clover school district since 2007. Lake Wylie is about 85 miles north of Columbia.

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