(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Superintendent in Flathead County charged with assaulting 12 year-old student – Daily Montanan [1] ['Nicole Girten', 'More From Author', '- December'] Date: 2023-12-20 A superintendent in Flathead County was charged in Flathead Justice Court with assaulting a 12 year-old student in August, according to court documents filed in November. Superintendent of the Helena Flats School District Andy Maheras allegedly grabbed the student by the arm and is accused of pulling his face towards him, as well as pushing the student into a locker. Maheras faces two charges of misdemeanor assault, pled not guilty to both charges and is working remotely during a paid administrative leave, according to the Daily Interlake. The Helena Flats School District counts an enrollment of fewer than 300 elementary and middle school students. Board of Trustees Chair Jessica Dyer did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday from the Daily Montanan. This isn’t the first time a Kalispell area school has seen allegations of student abuse. In November, a parent of a high school wrestler alleged in a lawsuit the Kalispell School District and officials with a standout wrestling program failed to protect her son from a sexual assault. In the recent case, the alleged victim described the pain as “like if you were squeezing a stress ball and it hurt,” the affidavit read. “He also reported that when Maheras turned his head after grabbing his face, his neck popped which also hurt.” Helena Flats Principal Allison Hawes was not immediately available for comment by phone Wednesday. Hawes cooperated in giving information to law enforcement, according to the affidavit. At Helena Flats in September, Maheras told county law enforcement he was attempting to reprimand a 12 year-old male student for kissing a 13 year-old girl in the hallway, according to an affidavit submitted by Deputy County Attorney Larissa Malloy. The superintendent told the County Sheriff’s Deputy the boy claimed he grabbed his face and smashed him into a locker, which he said he could not recall, only remembering grabbing his arm when he walked away from him. School camera footage from the August incident, as described in the affidavit, showed Maheras grabbing the student’s arm and then later following him over by lockers, off camera. “While off camera, several kids can be seen reacting to something going on in the direction T.R. and Maheras had gone off camera, a few looked surprised and some walking by the area in the hall can be seen turning to look and watch what was happening,” the affidavit said. In a forensic interview, the student who was allegedly assaulted said Maheras had approached him and accused him and a female student of kissing, as detailed in the affidavit. The student said when he turned around to go to his locker, Maheras grabbed and squeezed both arms and pushed him into the lockers. The student reported being too afraid of Maheras in the moment to look at him, and Maheras grabbed his chin, squeezing his face, to turn his head towards him. Maheras will be in court for a hearing on Feb. 6. Maheras previously worked as a juvenile probation officer in Walla Walla County in Washington and went on to serve as a children’s mental health counselor in the evergreen state, according to his LinkedIn profile. After teaching and working as an assistant principal, Maheras started working as superintendent in the Kalispell area school in 2018. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/12/20/superintendent-in-flathead-county-charged-with-assaulting-12-year-old-student/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/