Sarasota Teacher William Amory accused of punching students

SARASOTA - A substitute teacher has been arrested in Sarasota and charged with child abuse.

Deputies say 55-year-old William Amory punched two young students and pushed a third.

It happened in a second grade classroom at Emma E. Booker Elementary School on January 6.

Deputies say Amory became upset when he couldn’t get a media “activity board” to work.

Other students say when the children offered to help, he threw the remote control and then punched two boys, ages 7 and 8, and then pushed a 7-year-old girl.

One of the little boys told deputies he was hit so hard in the stomach, he vomited in the classroom. The other little boy was treated at the hospital for a bad bruise on his chest.

Deputies say the students also told them they tried to leave the classroom to tell someone what happened or go to the clinic, but Amory wouldn’t let them leave.

The students told the principal what happened the following day, according to deputies. The principal then notified the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Children and Families.

Investigators say after they arrested Amory, he admitted he became agitated.

Amory is now charged with three counts of child abuse.