Video shows teacher forcing girl to school pool

Tim Daly | KXTV-TV

Show Caption Hide Caption Student dragged by teacher speaks about ordeal High school freshman Sandra Garcia is speaking out about the incident with her physical education teacher that went viral. A video surfaced showing Garcia being dragged toward a pool by the teacher.

A physical education teacher in the Stockton Unified School District in Stockton, Calif., is facing a charge of corporal injury to a child. He is on paid leave after video surfaced of him allegedly trying to force a 14-year-old girl into a pool during a P.E. class.

Denny Peterson, employed by the school district for more than 10 years, is seen on video for 95 seconds using strong force to drag the girl toward the pool at Edison High School. The incident happened in late August, and much of it was captured on video by another student.

Gilbert Somera is a Stockton attorney representing the girl and her family.

"Regardless of her participation (in the class) it should disgust you how this man put his hands on a 14-year-old girl. She said multiple times, 'My top is falling down,'" Somera said.

Peterson is preparing a claim and likely a lawsuit over the struggle. He was put on paid leave for a month immediately following the incident, but was then brought back and assigned to another Stockton campus. Only Thursday, when KXTV-TV notified the school district that Peterson was facing a misdemeanor charge of corporal injury to a child, was he placed on leave again.

This is the district's response to the incident, the video and the punishment of Peterson: "SUSD has taken appropriate action in this case. The teacher has been placed on paid administrative leave per district policy."

The girl was avoiding the pool that day because she had had her hair done that morning and had an event to attend that night. Somera said the teacher had the option of punishing her academically but not physically.

"No means no and stop means stop. This isn't a situation where she's attacking a teacher and he's defending himself. When a woman or a 14-year-old girl says no, it means no," Somera said.