PALO CEDRO, Calif. (CBS Sacramento) – A California man was arrested after he reportedly slapped his daughter and pinned her to the ground over test scores.

Shasta County Sheriff’s officials say a school official responded to Foothill High School at 2:30 p.m. Thursday after receiving a report regarding a student being physically abused by her father, according to KRCR.

Officers say the initial incident occurred on Wednesday after the 15-year-old student and her father, 44-year old Leslie Herrick, got into an altercation over her test scores.

Herrick reportedly told his daughter to sit down and attempted to cut her hair with a pair of scissors, which prompted the victim to push him away several times. He then pinned the victim to the ground as the girl struggled to breath, according to police. Deputies say Herrick then slapped his daughter about 10 times across the face and continued to assault her by pulling her hair and trying to make her do wall squats.

The victim told school officials that she was hit so hard that she saw blackness for out for about 20 seconds. She had red marks on her face and a black eye. The teen has been placed into protective custody until the incident is further investigated.

Herrick was booked for felony child abuse at the Shasta County Jail. Deputies say Herrick was previously accused of abusing his daughter, but that the prior incidents were not reported to law enforcement.