Washington County teacher accused of assaulting relative in classroom

MONONGAHELA, Pa. — A Washington County high school teacher is accused of assaulting her 16-year-old relative in her classroom on Nov. 23.

Rachael Leigh Roberts, 43, is an English teacher at Ringgold High School, according to the school’s website.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim entered the relative’s classroom at the end of the school day and the two began “aggressively arguing” over family issues which physically escalated to the relative “repeatedly striking [the victim] then picking [the victim] up off of a chair and shoving juvenile victim to the floor and restraining [the victim] by standing on [the victim’s] stomach.”

The criminal complaint also says that after a while, the victim was able to escape to a nearby bathroom where Roberts pursued the victim and violently kicked the latched stall door.

The stall door was damaged in the process. The estimated cost for the damage is not yet known.

The victim, who’s a sophomore at Ringgold High School, said they had pain in their abdominal area from the assault but did not seek medical treatment.

Roberts is being charged with simple assault and criminal mischief for the incident.

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