NC school teacher accused of assaulting 5-year-old; coworkers kept quiet, police say

A former school teacher has been charged with felony child abuse and two of his coworkers are accused of not reporting the crime, the Durham Police Department announced Tuesday.

The investigation began Aug. 21 when officers responded to a report of an assault at Research Triangle Charter Academy on Ellis Road. The K-8 charter school opened in 2000 and has over 700 students, according to ABC11 , The News & Observer's media partner.

Raekwon Whitley, 28, who was working as a teacher at the Durham school, was accused of assaulting a student and causing serious physical injuries.

Whitley was indicted Nov. 4 on charges of felony child abuse inflicting serious physical injury, aggravated assault on an individual with a disability, misdemeanor child abuse, and assault on a child under 12, the Police Department stated in a news release.

The victim was a 5-year-old boy with a disability, the indictment states.

It accuses Whitley of forcibly seating the boy in a chair and applying pressure to his shoulders, lifting him off the ground by his T-shirt, "tossing" him to the ground and then pushing him to his ground with his left hand.

The boy suffered bruises to his chest, back, both shoulders and right arm, as well as emotional distress, the indictment states.

Whitley turned himself in Nov. 7, was booked in the Durham County jail and released on a $50,000 secured bond.

Nicole Ann Scotto, 35, of Clayton, and Melanie Butler Stack, 47, of Durham, both employees of the school, have been indicted on charges of felony common law obstruction of justice and failure to report child abuse, the news release stated. Scotto and Stack were released on unsecured bonds.

Media outlets report Whitley no longer works at the school, while Stack, who was listed as the school principal, has resigned, and Scotto, the dean of Special Education, is on administrative leave.

Anyone with additional information is asked to call Investigator C. Park of the Durham Police Department's Special Victims Unit at 919-560-4440 ext. 29321. You can also submit a CrimeStoppers tip online at durhamcrimestoppers.org or call 919-683-1200.

CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards of up to $2,000 for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.