No arrests in Friday AMIkids assault following milk dispute

No arrests have been made in the alleged assault of a 15-year-old boy by an AMIkids Beaufort staff member, a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said Monday.

Deputies began investigating the incident after the boy was brought to Beaufort Memorial Hospital on Friday, Sgt. Robin McIntosh said.

The assault reportedly occurred at about 7:30 a.m. that morning at the AMIkids facility on Honeybee Island Road in Seabrook, according to a Sheriff's Office report. Names and identifying information about the staff member and the victim were redacted from the report.

The boy told deputies that he had gotten milk in the breakfast line, but a staff member told him to put the milk back. The boy kept the milk and went to drink it when the staff member slapped him in the face, knocking the milk out of his hand, the report said.

The boy then dumped his tray of food on the staff member's head, McIntosh said. The staff member tackled him to the ground, put his hands around the boy's throat and pinned him to the ground by jamming an elbow into his jaw, the report said.

The boy was brought to the hospital's emergency room, where he complained of jaw pain. A nurse who contacted the Sheriff's Office also said she saw a small cut on his lip.

McIntosh said the name of the AMIkids staff member was likely redacted because deputies had not been able to contact him. No age or other information about the staff member was available Monday.

The staff member was put on administrative leave, according to the organization, a national nonprofit that works with at-risk youths on education and behavior. The S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice refers young men to the Beaufort program and would be notified of the incident, an AMIkids employee told the Sheriff's Office.

This story was originally published August 4, 2014 at 7:14 PM with the headline "No arrests in Friday AMIkids assault following milk dispute."