Caught on camera: Gym teacher drags student

Updated
Gym Teacher Caught on Camera Dragging Student Into Pool
Gym Teacher Caught on Camera Dragging Student Into Pool

Newly-released video obtained by FOX40 Friday shows a gym teacher at Edison High School dragging a student.

Denny Peterson, teacher in question, is on administrative leave.

"I swam laps like the teacher asked but I did not want my hair wet," the student, Ms. Garcia, told FOX40. "My hair looked good that day."

She added that she wanted her hair to look good during cheer practice later that day.

"I told him, 'My top is coming down,' and he didn't stop," Garcia said. She asked FOX40 not to publish her first name.

Peterson is heard on the video saying, "It's alright" as Garcia speaks of her potential wardrobe malfunction.

Peterson also apparently asks other students to tickle Garcia, but they do not oblige.

"When a woman or young girl says 'no,' it means no. Stop means stop," attorney Gilbert Somera said. "There's no games in between that."

Peterson was placed on leave after the video surfaced. No one answered the door at Peterson's home Friday. He is charged with corporal injury to a child, according to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's office.

In a statement to FOX40, the school district described Peterson's punishment as "immediate and appropriate."

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