{"id":1148,"date":"2026-05-20T15:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1148"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:35:10","slug":"manatee-county-middle-school-teacher-accused-of-directing-student-to-hit-classmate-who-wants-to-slap-him","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1148","title":{"rendered":"Manatee County middle school teacher accused of directing student to hit classmate: \u2018Who wants to slap him?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

Judith Clark, a teacher at Lee Middle School, is accused of having a student slap a classmate across the face. Courtesy: Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.\u00a0<\/span> <\/p>

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BRADENTON, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>A Manatee County middle school teacher was arrested after deputies said she told a student to slap a classmate who was talking.<\/p>

\u2018Who wants to slap him?\u2019<\/h2>

What we know:<\/p>

<\/div>

According to the Manatee County Sheriff\u2019s Office, on May 13, Judith Clark, 64, a teacher at Lee Middle School, repeatedly told a student to stop talking during class.<\/p>

When the student did not quiet down, Clark reportedly asked the class who wanted to slap him.<\/p>

Witnesses told deputies that when nobody volunteered and the student started talking again, Clark again asked who wanted to slap the student.<\/p>

Deputies said when she got no response, she told two students to close the classroom window blinds and then directed another student to hit his classmate.<\/p>

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Witnesses stated that the student obeyed and gently slapped the victim across the face with an open hand.<\/p>

Teacher arrested<\/h2>

Dig deeper:<\/p>

Detectives said that the 12-year-old who slapped the victim told them that he was scared to disobey the teacher\u2019s instructions.<\/p>

The child is not facing charges.<\/p>

School administrators said they removed Clark from the classroom as soon as the investigation began and she no longer had contact with students.<\/p>

Clark was arrested on Tuesday and charged with child abuse.<\/p>

What we don’t know:<\/p>

It remains unclear how long Clark had been teaching at Lee Middle School before her arrest on Tuesday.<\/p>

Officials have not released information regarding her bond status or when she will appear in court to face the child abuse charge.<\/p>

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A Manatee County middle school teacher was arrested after deputies said she told a student to slap a classmate who was talking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,132],"tags":[8,133],"class_list":["post-1148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-manatee-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-manatee-county"],"yoast_head":"\nManatee County middle school teacher accused of directing student to hit classmate: \u2018Who wants to slap him?\u2019 - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1148\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manatee County middle school teacher accused of directing student to hit classmate: \u2018Who wants to slap him?\u2019 - 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