West Columbia, SC 05/24/2022 (Paul Kirby) – Lexington School District Two quickly suspended and then terminated a teacher’s aid that was arrested Wednesday morning for assaulting a child and kidnapping the same student at Cayce Elementary School last week. According to a District spokesperson, the employee was first suspended and then terminated soon after they were notified by the police Tuesday, May 24, 2022, of the incident that occurred last Friday.
The employee, Melanie Juliette Harris, 27, has been formally charged with Assault in the 2nd Degree, Kidnapping, and Unlawful Conduct Towards a Minor. Although the Cayce Police Department did release the initial report of the incident that was written by the school’s resource officer, they did not release the investigative narrative that would detail exactly what led up to any of these charges.
Harris was arrested on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, and booked into the Lexington County Detention Center. She is being held there on a $120,000 bond.
