This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A Teacher of the Year at an Alabama Christian School is now out of jail after posting bail following her alleged savage beating of her 12-year-old son caught on camera.
44-year-old Nicole Staples was fired from her second-grade teaching position at Cottage Hill Christian Academy after video of the belt beating went viral. She is now charged with willful abuse of a child under 18 and was released from jail Wednesday after posting a $7,500 bond.
"Discipline is supposed to be for corrective action. That went way beyond that," Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch told WALA-TV.
"Snatch him up by his hair and yell and curse the way that she did, working for a Christian school, I thought was repulsive. It's sickening to see somebody do that to their child."
Burch told NBC 15: "It's almost like a dual personality. Because by all accounts, I'm told she is a good teacher and well respected. And yet what happens in the home is clearly opposite of that."
The sheriff's office issued a statement indicating: "A video recorded by a family member appears to show Randi Nicole Staples instructing her 12-year-old son to lay across the arm of their sofa inside the residence in Grand Bay, Alabama."
"Staples then allegedly struck her son on his bottom and legs approximately 20 times with a belt, during which the son can be heard pleading for her to stop."
"You're not f***ing sorry," Staples yells while repeatedly striking her boy as he screams in pain with each lash of the belt.
"Because if you were f***ing sorry … you wouldn't make extra work for everybody in this house because you won't clean up after yourself. You don't do what you're supposed to do."
The victim's brother, 24-year-old Jackson Staples who no longer lives at home, told Fox10 he was the one who forwarded the video to Cottage Hill Christian Academy, where his mother was awarded Teacher of the Year this past May.
"I didn't feel like, you know, she should be working at the school or even doing that to my little brothers," said Jackson Staples, claiming his mom had "done it to me my whole life."
The Academy told NBC 15 that it is "committed to providing a safe, nurturing, and Christ-centered environment for all students," and that, "This commitment guides every action our school takes regarding student welfare and staff conduct."
"On November 19, 2025, school leadership was made aware of concerns involving the off-campus conduct of an elementary teacher toward her minor child at her personal residence. Although the incident did not occur on school property, the nature of the information required immediate administrative action."
"Upon learning of the alleged misconduct, the school acted swiftly and decisively, relieving the teacher of her duties and placing her on administrative leave pending a full review," it continued.
"Following the findings of law enforcement, which determined that the teacher had engaged in improper conduct unrelated to her school responsibilities, an arrest was made and Cottage Hill Christian Academy terminated her employment in accordance with institutional policy."
