Police have launched an investigation after a video showed a school principal hitting a 6-year-old student with a wooden paddle. The student’s mother recorded the incident on her phone last month in Clewiston, Florida. The mother, who doesn’t speak English she didn’t give consent for the child to be paddled. The mother, who does not speak English, says she didn’t give consent for the child to be hit. Principal Melissa Carter was seen on video hitting the student while Cecilia Self, a school clerk at the school, held the girl’s hands down according to KMOV 4.

The incident took place on April 13 when the school called the mother to inform her that her daughter had caused damage to a school computer. Also telling her it would be a $50 fee. The mother said before the beating she was brought into Carter’s office and saw there were no surveillance cameras, therefore, she secretly recorded the incident.

The mother told CBS Fort Myers affiliate WINK  she did not want to be identified but  “The hatred with which she hit my daughter, I mean it was a hatred that, really I’ve never hit my daughter like she hit her,” she said. “I had never hit her.” The mother says she thought she couldn’t intervene and stop the beating because she is undocumented.

“At no time did the mom give permission for anyone, including the principal, to paddle their child,” Brent Probinsky, the attorney representing the mother said.  He claims the mother didn’t interfere because “it happened very quickly” and the mom was “shocked” and “frozen for a few moments” while the paddling started.

Corporal punishment in schools is legal in 19 states in the U.S., including Florida. Probinksy says 20 of Florida’s 67 counties allow corporal punishment. However, it is not allowed in Hendry Country, where this incident took place. The attorney told CBS News he not only wants the principal to be arrested but to make sure she never works at another school again. The principal is now on administrative leave from the school. The state’s attorney has also launched an investigation into the incident.

Read more:

Community meeting concerning Phoenix police handling of Black family gets heated