School principal arrested for allegedly choking student, whipping him with charging cable and slapping child in face: cops

A school principal was arrested for aggravated abuse and false imprisonment of a child under 13 after allegedly physically assaulting and holding a student against his will for more than an hour, police said.

The incident occurred last Friday at Destiny Leadership Academy – a private school in Ocala, Florida – when authorities from the Marion County Sheriff's Office responded to a call regarding a “physical disturbance between a student and the director”, Dontay Akeem Prophet, 33 years old. , according to a statement from the Marion County Sheriff's Office detailing the altercation.

“During the investigation, classroom surveillance footage was obtained revealing that Prophet was preventing the child from leaving the room for more than 40 minutes,” authorities said. “Surveillance footage showed him grabbing the victim, holding her to the ground and strangling her. The Prophet can be seen on camera using a charging cable to hit the child, causing him to fall and injure himself. Additionally, the Prophet twisted the child's ankle, slapped him in the face, and subjected him to other physical violence.

Prophet told police the altercation was “an attempt to prevent the child from being harmed.” However, evidence obtained by police during their investigation “clearly contradicts this assertion,” authorities said.

Prophet was then arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail where he is being held without bail, police said.

The identity, condition and age of the child have not been released by authorities and the investigation into the initial cause of the incident is currently ongoing.