Former Marlboro County elementary school teacher assaults two children after remarks about his height, lawsuit says

BENNETTSVILLE, S.C. (WBTW) — A former Bennettsville Primary School teacher assaulted two children in the cafeteria and a bathroom after one of them called him a "tall boy" due to his large stature, an attorney said on Tuesday.

Patrick Williams, 46, and the Marlboro County School District are named as defendants in a negligence suit stemming from the Feb. 1, 2023 attack.

"These children no longer attend this school, but they have been affected by this," attorney Roy T. Willey IV said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit that was filed Tuesday in Marlboro County Circuit Court.

The confrontation involving 9 and 6-year-old brothers started after one of them made the comment about Williams, who is 6'5′′ and weighed 240 pounds at the time, the complaint says.

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"Because of that, (Williams) threw him against the cafeteria table and when his brother attempted to intervene, he then ended up carrying both of the boys off, throwing them through the air and into the bathroom where he continued his assault on them," Willey said.

News13 reached out to Marlboro County School District for comment but didn't immediately hear back. A spokeswoman has said in the past that officials don't comment on pending litigation.

Willey said the brothers' parents only found out about the alleged attack after being told by them. He said Williams was no longer employed by the district.

Willey said a public records request revealed that Williams had previously been "written up" and "threatened with termination" for other outbursts.

"What we did not get is any investigation by the school into this matter, any investigation done into his background prior to his hiring," he said. "That's unacceptable."

The brothers' parents are suing on grounds of assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment and negligence.

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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at . See more of his work here .