A West Memphis School District teacher has been taken into custody following an incident with a student at Wonder Jr. High School, according to the West Memphis Police Department. Kenneth Cauley, 29, faces charges of third-degree battery intended to cause injury as well as filing a false report, as per reports from Action News 5. His arrest came after authorities viewed footage showing Cauley entering into a physical altercation with an eighth-grade student on Friday, August 9, 2024.
Initially, the student involved was taken into custody and faced charges. However, after reviewing video evidence, it became clear that Cauley was the primary aggressor in the confrontation, which was reportedly about the student vaping at school. As a result, the charges against the student were dropped, while Cauley was taken into custody and later released on his own recognizance. He remains on administrative leave from West Memphis Schools pending an investigation. This development was confirmed by both WREG and Fox13 Memphis.
In a detailed recount of the incident, police described Cauley's behavior as aggressive, noting that he used profanity and allegedly threatened the eighth grader with a "whooping." These details come from the officers' review of the incident’s video footage, according to WREG. Caderia Watkins, the student's mother, expressed concern for her son's well-being and future in the district. In an interview with WREG, she said, "At this point I am not sure if I am going to take him out the district and put him somewhere else, I don't know, I just want him to be safe."
The West Memphis Police Department has assured the community of their commitment to a careful and clear-cut investigation to ensure proper justice, with the declaration that "The West Memphis Police Department is committed to a thorough and transparent investigation to ensure justice is served," as reported by WREG. All this takes place against the backdrop of the West Memphis School District's strict non-violence policy. The public's focus now turns to the completion of the internal investigation and the resulting actions that will follow in the wake of these serious allegations.
