Cache County Middle School Teacher Arrested, Accused Of Assaulting Students

PROVIDENCE, Utah – A teacher at Spring Creek Middle School in Cache County was arrested after students accused him of pushing and punching them after school.

Deputies said teacher Scott Meeker, 51, was arrested and charged with one count of second degree felony child abuse, one count of third degree felony aggravated assault and three counts of class B misdemeanor assault.

A Cache County investigator met with school administrators Thursday morning to review surveillance video of the incident, which happened Wednesday.

An affidavit said the video showed a student (J1) walking down a hall when he jumped and hit the top of lockers several times.

“Scott Meeker is observed coming out of his class room and grabbing J1 by the collar of his shirt. Scott (Meeker) then pushes J1 across the hall and slams him into the wall causing him to hit his head. Scott appears to say something to Juvenile 1 and let him go. J1 then walks away without further incident,” the affidavit read.

Investigators said after video showed Meeker watching the students for a moment, he then chased some in the hallway and pushed several out of the way. They said Meeker grabbed two more students by the neck and pushed them towards a fourth student.

“Scott (Meeker) then throws two closed fists, punches and strikes J4 in the head and causes goose eggs. J4 was taken to the hospital and received medical treatment for his injuries. A fifth Juvenile (J5) was also pushed during the altercation,” said the affidavit.

Meeker was taken into custody at his house and brought to the sheriff’s office for an interview.

“During the course of the interview, Scott stated that he had punched a student two different times in the head. He stated that he had pushed multiple students out of the way to get to this student. Scott also admitted to grabbing a student and pushed him into the wall hard enough to cause him to hit his head on the wall,” the document said.

“This is very much an oddity,” said Lt. Doyle Peck with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office. “We actually have, we believe, a good educational system (and)  good teachers. You know, it’s unfortunate. I know teachers are under a lot of stress just like everyone else. In this situation, we’re still trying to find out exactly why, but it appeared that this particular teacher really lost his cool, lost control.”

Officials with the Cache County School District placed Meeker on administrative leave and released a statement that said, “The Cache County School District absolutely does not tolerate the use of physical force of any kind by adults with children. Pending criminal charges and an internal investigation, appropriate actions will be taken in consequence of this incident.”