PANAMA CITY — The Bay School Board on July 22 approved the suspension of two Bay District Schools employees without pay due to recent arrests.
On July 15, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of 34-year-old Sean Patrick Watson Jr.
On July 15, a sexually explicit video was revealed on a victim’s cellphone. It showed Watson, 34, and the victim, who is one of his former students, engaging in sexual activities, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
The release does not provide the victim’s age; it says only that the victim is a former student of his. Watson was employed at Rutherford High School as a teacher as well as an assistant football coach.
Watson has been arrested on two counts of unlawful sexual activities with certain minors, which is defined in state law as someone age 24 or older engaging in sexual activity with someone age 16 or 17; promoting or directing the sexual performance of a child; and authority figure soliciting or engaging in a romantic relationship with a student.
His arraignment is scheduled for Aug. 18, according to the Bay County court clerk’s website.
According to an arrest affidavit, witnesses told deputies that Bay District Schools teacher Summer Chester, 40, along with other family members, arrived at a bar and created a disturbance, interrupting pool matches and breaking a player’s personal pool cue.
Deputies said Summer Chester, a teacher at Surfside Middle School, knocked Brenda Woods, 69, to the ground on her back and began striking her repeatedly with a closed fist. The affidavit said the incident was caught on video.
The incident gave Woods a black eye on the right side of her face that had swollen nearly to the size of a golf ball, the affidavit says. She was taken to the hospital.
While processing her at the Bay County Jail, deputies said they found methylphenidate, a drug used to treat ADHD, on Summer Chester.
Summer Chester was charged with aggravated battery on a person 65 or older. She was additionally charged with possession of a controlled substance without a prescription and introduction of a controlled substance into a detention facility.
According to the court clerk’s website, Chester has pleaded not guilty. Her next court date is Aug. 4.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay School Board suspends two teachers who have been arrested and face prosecution
Reporting by DeonTay Smith, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
