Nebraska superintendent charged after boy falls in scuffle over cowboy hat
A western Nebraska school superintendent who wanted a student to remove his cowboy hat is facing a misdemeanor charge after the boy fell to the ground during a scuffle over the hat.
The Maywood School District has placed Mark Bejot on administrative leave after he was charged Monday with child abuse following the Oct. 1 incident in the school common area.
Frontier County Sheriff Michael Jordan said that although the chief claims the boy accidentally fell off a stool, surveillance video shows Bejot pulling the boy off the stool as he reached for the hat. The sheriff learned of the incident after the boy’s mother called him about it.
Bejot posted $5,000 bond so he could remain free before his next hearing in November. Court records do not indicate he still has an attorney.
The version of events Bejot described to Jordan differed from how the boy’s family described him being thrown to the ground, but Jordan said he decided to send the case to the Nebraska attorney general for review after he had seen surveillance footage that worried him about the consequences of the events. way in which the supervisor dealt with it. Prosecutors there decided to charge him after reviewing the evidence.
A phone number for Bejot in the southwestern Nebraska town of about 250 residents did not work Thursday and he did not immediately respond to emails.
He told the sheriff that the boy initially refused to remove the hat and then purposely placed it in a place where it was difficult to reach. He said the boy fell from a stool when Bejot reached for the cowboy hat, despite his efforts to keep him from falling. The boy then threatened to hit the superintendent and stormed outside to call his father, Bejot said.
Jordan said the surveillance video appeared to show Bejot jumping for the hat after the boy took it off, then hooking his hands under the boy’s armpits and pulling him off the stool. Jordan said the video also showed Bejot pushing the boy’s shoulders down as he pulled the hat from his hands. The boy then stood up and raised his fist at the chief before grabbing his phone and walking outside, Jordan said.
When the sheriff confronted Bejot about the video, he told Jordan, “I didn’t hurt that child,” according to the sheriff’s statement. But Jordan told him the video looked bad without context.
The Maywood School Board said in a statement that Bejot had been placed on administrative leave, but said board members could not discuss the details of the situation because it is a personnel matter. The board says it remains committed to providing a safe environment for all students.