New child abuse charge filed against Missouri teacher

MARIONVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors have filed a new child abuse charge against a southwest Missouri teacher accused of hurting a 4-year-old boy on a playground.

The charge was filed Tuesday against Marionville teacher Kimberly Daniels, just one day after a Lawrence County judge dismissed a different type of child abuse charge following a preliminary hearing, the Springfield News-Leader reports.

Daniels, who is 42, has been on paid administrative leave following a June 6 incident in which she took the 4-year-old by the arm and led him away from a kickball game. The boy's father noticed bruises on the child's arm that night.

Prosecutors had alleged Daniels' behavior was abusive. Daniels' attorney, Stacie Bilyeu argued that the child was being defiant and that Daniels was taking him away from a situation where he could have harmed himself or others.

Bilyeu said she was disappointed to see prosecutors charge her client again.

One issue with the state's initial case is that prosecutors had charged Daniels with a form of child abuse that called for them to prove she inflicted "serious emotional injury" on the child. The assistant Lawrence County prosecutor handling the case acknowledged during Monday's hearing he thought Daniels had been charged with a different variation of child abuse involving physical harm.