A former Alabama elementary school employee accused of beating a second-grader with a belt will not face criminal charges.
WHNT reports state law protects the accused worker from prosecution, according to a police department spokesman.
The spokesman said the worker used his belt to spank several children but that the action did not meet state requirements to be considered abuse, so no criminal charges would be filed.
The worker was fired from his contract position with the school, and will be offered a diversion program by the prosecutor’s office in Madison County, Alabama.
