IRMO, SC (WIS) – New details have emerged regarding the arrest of an Irmo Middle School teacher for he would have hit two students.

Jermaine Cornelius Singletary, 51, turned himself in to Lexington County deputies Wednesday and was charged with two counts of third-degree assault.

The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department sent WIS News 10 a copy of the incident report detailing the two separate incidents.

In the first incident, which occurred in March, the report states Singletary wrote in a statement that a student came up behind him and began squeezing and rubbing his head. He claimed as he turned, he swung his arm, hitting the student.

The report goes on to say that Singletary claimed he apologized and told the student he “shouldn’t rub his head or touch him.”

According to arrest warrants, Singletary allegedly punched the student in the chest, causing injuries. He is alleged to have said this in a classroom a week or two after the incident: “Of course you’ll get hit if you try that again. Anyone runs the risk of getting hit when they do that.”

However, Singletary wrote in his statement that a few days after the incident, the student began playing in class and when he was asked to put his phone away, the students allegedly yelled at Singletary “he should be fired for hitting me”. The student allegedly went on to say “you shouldn’t have hit me and I’m going to grab your head again”

Singletary said in the statement that he told the student “that he would be hit if he tried again” and that he told the students “anyone is at risk of being hit when they do something like this and they need to think before they act.”

The second incident occurred in October, when Singletary allegedly hit another student after taking his homeworld out of the trash.

According to another incident report, Singletary claims the students were presenting group projects when he told them they could take them home but not tear them up around the school.

He said one group ignored his request and scrapped the project. He claimed he requested the project and trashed it because it was “a safety issue.”

The report goes on to say that Singletary claimed the student ignored him while calling his name several times and told him to put the part of the project back in the trash. He claimed the student continued to ignore him.

Singletary claimed she told the student no and handed the draft to a female student, who handed the draft to her after saying she would write to the student.

The report continues with various statements by individuals whose names are redacted.

The arrest warrant alleges that Singletary approached the student and hit him twice on the shoulder with an open hand.

A press release from deputies claims Singletary did not report any of the incidents to school administrators.

Lexington-Richland School District 5 issued the following statement:

“School District Five in Lexington and Richland Counties has received notification that a district employee has been arrested. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement in their investigation and the employee is on administrative leave. Due to the ongoing nature of this criminal investigation, any questions should be directed to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.”

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