160kg teacher arrested for using student as ‘stepping stool’

A primary teacher has been charged for allegedly injuring a year six student by standing on his back during a school safety drill.

A 160kg teacher in Minnesota has been charged after he allegedly used a student as a “stepping stool” during a school safety drill, cops said.

Jason Rogers, 48, confessed to standing on the boy’s back after the student opted to lie on his stomach — instead of sitting down — during the drill at the Underwood School last month, local newspaper The Star Tribune reported, citing court documents, reported The New York Post.

Underwood is 280km north west of Minneapolis.

The boy’s mother said the saga had left her son so badly injured that he “was walking around like an 80-year-old from the pain in his back,” the criminal complaint states.

Authorities were only alerted to the ordeal after the boy was taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries, cops said.

The boy told police his teacher stood on his back for roughly ten seconds — causing him to cry out in pain.

He confessed to standing on the boy’s back after the student opted to lie on his stomach instead of sitting down during a school drill. Picture: Underwood School District

“[The child] did not know why Defendant did this because he did not hear him say anything about it and just stepped on him like he was a ‘stepping stool’,” the criminal complaint said. “He stated the entire class saw it and thought Defendant had broken [the boy’s] back.”

When questioned, Mr Rogers — who acknowledged he weighed roughly 160kg — allegedly admitted he did it because he didn’t think the students were taking the drill seriously enough at the time.

He said multiple kids were lying on their stomachs and that he had warned them he “could step on them in their current position”.

Mr Rogers then allegedly put his foot on the injured student’s lower back and put his weight on him, the court documents stated.

The teacher has been placed on administrative leave while the probe unfolds. Picture: Google Maps

After hearing the boy groan and say “ouch,” Mr Rogers told cops he asked the child if he was OK.

The teacher also said he stepped on two other students during the drill, according to the complaint.

He was slapped with one gross misdemeanour count of malicious punishment of a child as a result. Mr Rogers has since been put on paid administrative leave while the incident is investigated, a spokesman for the Underwood Public Schools district said.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as 160kg teacher arrested for using student as ‘stepping stool’