The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office is investigating allegations that an Edisto High School special education teacher abused two students.

“Something happened,” Sheriff Larry Williams said. Williams said he expects the investigation to conclude very shortly.

Authorities have questioned teacher Paul Jensen, 61, of 1137 Walden Place Dr., Elgin, in connection with two recent incidents on campus.

Jensen has been suspended without pay pending the results of the investigation, according to Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4 Superintendent Dr. Thomas Sparks.

A message left at Jensen’s residence was not immediately returned.

The first incident occurred on Aug. 26, when the mother of an 18-year-old student in Jensen’s class accused the teacher of assaulting her child.

The mother “reported to OCSO that her child, a student at Edisto, had been assaulted or abused by one of the instructors there,” Williams said.

Williams said the mother claimed her child suffered a seizure the next day as a result of Jensen’s actions. The mother said her child had bruises on his shoulder and left knee.

According to an OCSO incident report, Edisto Principal Merrill Smith told authorities that the child was hitting both teachers and students. She said Jensen attempted to restrain the child by putting his arm around the child’s waist to pull him away.

During the course of Jensen’s intervention, the student fell and Jensen landed on top of him, she said. She said school nurses checked the student twice for injuries that day.

Jensen was placed on paid administrative leave following the incident for five days, Sparks said. He was allowed to return on the condition that he improve his behavior.

“The investigation did not turn out anything that we felt merited termination,” Sparks said.

In addition, a second incident is being investigated in which a bag was allegedly found on a 14-year-old’s head on Oct. 1.

Williams said evidence suggests a bag was placed near the child.

“The bag was put in a position that wasn’t in the best interest of the child and that child could have suffocated,” he said.

An OCSO incident report says Jensen’s aide walked in to find the bag on the child’s head and questioned what Jensen was doing.

“His reply was ‘Making him work,’” the report said.

Sparks said he couldn’t address specific questions regarding the incidents until the OCSO completes its investigation.

David Smith, the student’s legal guardian, said neither the school nor the district contacted him about the incident that day.

He said he was first told about the allegations by a local pastor last Thursday night. If not for that call, he would have sent his child back to school the next morning.

He questions why the teacher was allowed to return to school after the first allegations were made.

“The last five weeks I had to force my son to get on the bus,” he said. “And he loves school.”

Williams said the school conducted internal investigations on both incidents.

“I have some witnesses that said Mr. Jensen did this intentionally,” Williams said of the first incident.

He noted one witness claimed Jensen “was more aggressive than he needed to be.”

The student’s mother told an investigator she was alarmed about something Jensen wrote in her child’s notebook the day of the incident. The notebook is used to inform parents of daily class activities.

According to the OCSO incident report, Jensen wrote the student “became aggressive when asked to move. He (Jensen) walked (the student) backwards and (the student) sat down hard. He (Jensen) checked him for bruises and none was there.”

The mother said she was denied two requests for copies of the witnesses’ statements from the school, the report said.

OCSD 4 Assistant Superintendent Dr. Shirlan Jenkins told authorities that was because the matter was still being investigated internally.

Williams insisted the district took proper action and has been very cooperative with investigators.

“They did what schools do. They followed their protocols in getting the information,” he said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories at TheTandD.com.

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