Log in to WRAL.com with one click using your favorite social network:
OR
Log in using your WRAL.com account:



Wrong email/password combination.

Forgot password?

Register with WRAL.com using your favorite social network:
OR
Register for a WRAL.com account using our web form.

11:21 p.m. • 5-22-13

Weather Forecast for Raleigh

  • Thu: Thunderstorm.
    • Hi: 83° F
  • Fri: Partly Cloudy.
    • Hi: 74° F
  • Sat: Clear.
    • Hi: 72° F

Other Locations

> 7 Day Forecast

Doppler Image

Published: 2012-12-12 14:54:00
Updated: 2012-12-12 18:46:46

Posted: December 12, 2012

Family sues over child's strip search at Sampson elementary school

[search] Site Search

print friendly

Clinton, N.C. — A Sampson County family has filed suit against the board of education there alleging a strip search of their 10-year-old son was unreasonable and an invasion of his privacy.

According to the lawsuit, Teresa Holmes, then the assistant principal at Union Elementary School, made the boy remove his shoes, socks, pants and shirt, and she put her fingers inside the waistband of his underpants. Holmes was looking for money that another student dropped in the cafeteria, but her search found nothing.

In the suit, the boy's family claims that he saw a fellow student drop some money and helped her pick it up. After he was searched, another teacher told Holmes the money was found on the cafeteria floor, according to the suit.

A school district spokeswoman said Holmes had planned to retire before the incident and has since left the school.

 

 

Copyright 2012 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

39 Comments


WRAL.com welcomes your comments on this story. All comments are moderated prior to publication based on our posting guidelines. Please review them prior to posting and if your message is not approved.

View Comments VIEW ALL 39 COMMENTS

This story is closed for comments. Comments on WRAL.com news stories are accepted and moderated between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Latest Comments
I feel NO sympathy for the lawyer who gave this family hope that they can win. There was probable cause.

However, money found is not money stolen. Kids are careless, and are careless with money.
itsyoureternalsoul
December 13, 2012 12:28 p.m.
Oh. My. God. This same thing happened when I was a kid at my local school. The principal was disciplined and nothing like that ever happened again. I REALLY would have thought that anyone in the education field would know BY NOW how amazingly inappropriate this would be! I mean these folks get all sorts of training. They are supposed to be also PROTECTING children from this kind of invasion and someone in a position of protecting does THIS? Speechless.
Click to view my profile cocker_mom
December 13, 2012 10:54 a.m.
I would sue - not for the money but to call attention to this. The assistant pricipal had NO right to do this. I think it borders on molestation and I would want her to be investigated to see if anything like this has happend in the past.
Click to view my profile Wiser_now
December 13, 2012 10:46 a.m.
If the school suspects a crime has been committed they need to call the police and have it be an official criminal investigation by trained professionals rather than amateur assistant principals. At least the parents should have been called before any of this took place!
Click to view my profile Tax Man
December 13, 2012 10:33 a.m.
The parents should win big and then donate it all to their favorite charity. The school board should take the award out of the assistant principal's retirement. Imagine if NC had teachers unions? This would be an everyday affair. Hopefully Holmes was demoted and disciplined before her departure.
Click to view my profile Tax Man
December 13, 2012 10:31 a.m.
View Comments VIEW ALL 39 COMMENTS

Multimedia Spotlight

more