DeKalb mother says teacher grabbed 16-year-old's face

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. — A DeKalb County mother is upset after she said a teacher touched her 16-year-old daughter inappropriately and the school failed to immediately report the incident to police.

"Why didn't they call when it first happened? Why were they just contacted on Thursday when it happened on Monday?" asked Yarzebia Morrison.

She told Channel 2's Amy Napier Viteri a male teacher at Stone Mountain High School touched her daughter inappropriately in his office.

Morrison said the teen told a teacher and counselor what happened, but the principal didn't notify school police until three days later, after having a meeting with the girl's parents and the accused teacher.

According to a witness, the girl had marks on her face from where the teacher grabbed her. Because investigators weren't called until days later, there was no evidence, Morrison said.

"They can't do the proper work they're supposed to do. They got to dig deeper and deeper in order to see what really happened," Morrison said.

Sources in the DeKalb County school system told Viteri the school is required to call police in the event of a physical incident between student and teacher.

Morrison wanted to know why the principal didn't follow that procedure and how it would affect the investigation.

"I'm very angry. I'm very frustrated", she said.

DeKalb County Schools spokeswoman Lillian Govus told Viteri the district was investigating and looking into how this was handled.

Govus told Viteri the district takes allegations like this very seriously.

WSBTV