PE teacher charged with assaulting student

The physical education teacher for Flower Mound Elementary School has been charged with assaulting a first grader during class and is now on administrative leave.

Investigators said the incident was caught on video.

A criminal misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on a school student was filed Wednesday in Comanche County District Court against Rocky Lane Flint, 48, of Lawton, records indicate. The crime is punishable by up to a year in the county jail and/or a fine up to $2,000.

Records indicate Flint has not made his initial court appearance for the charge.

The incident happened shortly before 11 a.m. Nov. 13 when the student, identified as a first grader by District Attorney Kyle Cabelka, was “assaulted” by Flint, the probable cause affidavit states. The child’s parents reported the incident to Superintendent/Principal Dax Trent who then put Flint on leave for four days, according to Comanche County Sheriff’s Detective William Torres. Flint returned to the school following Thanksgiving break and the parents filed a report with the sheriff’s department.

Torres stated he spoke with Trent on Dec. 2 about the incident and picked-up video of it from the school.

In the video, children were seen playing a game in the gym when the boy was getting back in line, the affidavit states. Another child is seen coming up and getting in front of the boy and Flint was seen pushing the boy’s left side of his head before stepping back, the affidavit states. Although there’s no audio, Torres stated, the teacher is seen facing the student and saying something.

At the same time, counselor Justin Doty was close and facing the direction of the incident, the investigator stated. Doty has refused to provide a statement to what he saw, according to the affidavit.

During an interview with Torres on Dec. 9, Flint said that after watching the video, “he was shocked that he assaulted a child in his class and didn’t believe he did that to a student even though he saw the video footage,” the affidavit states. During the video, he admitted to pushing the boy’s head and said it was wrong, but he couldn’t remember why he did it, Torres stated. Flint said the boy was a good student, had no prior troubles and did nothing wrong.

Torres stated he asked Flint what if the same incident had happened to one of his children and he said he would expect an apology and the teacher get reprimanded by the school, according to the affidavit. At no point in the interview did Flint express remorse or offer an apology for the incident and at the end of the interview he blamed his behavior on possible diabetic issues, Torres stated.

Following the interview, Torres reached out to Senior Investigator Brad DeLozier of the Oklahoma State Department of Education who requested all the videos pertaining to the case for administrative action, the affidavit states.

A forensic interview was conducted with the boy on Dec. 13 and he became sad and slightly withdrawn when talking about his PE class, Torres stated. He said Flint would push the kids while they were in the gym and that shortly before his interview, Flint was staring at him during lunch and it made him uncomfortable, according to the affidavit.

That same day, after the interview and videos were turned over to DeLozier, hFlint was placed under investigation and was under administrative leave by the OSDE, the affidavit states.

Flint remains identified on the Flower Mound Elementary staff directory as PE teacher. He is also listed as the head coach for the MacArthur Middle School girls’ volleyball team. 

The Oklahoma Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance identifies Flint as it Elementary PE Chair. According to the OAHPERD, Flint has been teaching for six years and was the first PE teacher named the OU Teacher of the Game in 2021 for his work connecting with his students through workout videos during COVID-19. He received a $1,000 check from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma for the honor.