Two former Savannah-Chatham school employees indicted by grand jury for child abuse
A Chatham County grand jury indicted two former Savannah Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) employees on May 1 on separate child abuse charges.
On May 1, Seward Hamilton was indicted for cruelty to children in the first degree. On Dec. 7, 2023, according to the indictment, Hamilton “did maliciously cause” a child under the age of 18 years old “cruel and excessive physical pain” by grabbing him and throwing him over his head, causing him to fall to the floor and injure his eye.
The alleged incident between Hamilton and the student occurred at Building Bridges Middle School, Sheila Blanco, SCCPSS public information manager, confirmed via email.
“Upon gaining knowledge of the allegations in December 2023, an investigation was immediately initiated and the individual was reassigned to another position in the District where there would be no interaction with students,” said Blanco.
“SCCPSS will take the appropriate next steps concerning Dr. Hamilton based on the outcome of the investigation and continues to cooperate fully with the arresting agency,” added Blanco. “This remains a preliminary investigation subject to change. No further comment can be made on the allegations as it involves a personnel matter.”
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Groves High special education teacher charged with child molestation
On May 1, the grand jury also indicted Elliot Brown, a special education paraprofessional at Groves High School, for criminal attempt to commit a felony and child molestation.
According to the indictment, between Aug. 3, 2023 and Jan. 31, Brown “did knowingly and intentionally attempt to commit the crime of improper sexual contact” and made comments about a female student's body "and what he wanted to do with [her] for the purpose of engaging in sexual intercourse." Prosecutors also charged Brown with child molestation for allegedly touching the female student between her thighs.
In an email, Blanco said that Brown had worked for the district since Nov. 12, 2013. The charges were first reported to the district on Jan. 31 of this year.
“Administrators took immediate action and Mr. Brown was reassigned to a location where he had no interaction with students while an investigation was conducted. Mr. Brown submitted his resignation eight days later,” Blanco said.
“The district takes any accusation of inappropriate conduct by an employee very seriously. The matter was reported to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission and the administrative portion of the investigation was concluded,” added Blanco, who said that any further inquiries should be directed to the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office.
Drew Favakeh is a public safety and courts reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Two former Savannah-Chatham school employees indicted for child abuse
