A 39-YEAR-OLD preschool teacher was nabbed, inside the school she was teaching in, for allegedly squeezing the face of a four-year-old pupil.

The pupil’s parents have accused Mae Letigio of squeezing their son’s face for not aanswering the questions in his test paper on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020.

Major John Kareen Escober, Pardo Police Station chief, said the child’s mother had immediately sought their help after the incident.

“The teacher was brought to our station under citizen’s arrest led by the pupil’s mother (on Friday, Feb. 28),” Escober said in Cebuano.

Investigation showed that the pupil was accompanied by his mother, Shiela (real name withheld) to a private preschool in Barangay Bulacao, Cebu City Thursday morning.

Shiela would usually stay inside the school to wait for her son’s dismissal.

But when the morning class ended, Shiela was surprised to see her son sobbing.

The child kept crying and told his mother that Letigio had squeezed his face because he did not answer the questions on the test paper.

“The mother claimed that the teacher got angry because her son did not answer the test paper. That’s why she squeezed the boy’s face,” Escober said in Cebuano.

Shiela immediately filed a complaint before the Pardo Police Station, which led to Letigio’s detention.

“Actually, there was a bit of resistance on Letigio’s part because her colleagues told her not to come. But she conceded when our police officers had arrived to pick her up,” Escober said.

Escober said the pupil’s mother will be filing criminal charges against the teacher for violation of Republic Act 7610, or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.

SunStar Superbalita tried to get the teacher’s side, but she refused to comment on the matter. (BBT, RTF)