DHS Spanish Teacher Accused of Battering Student

DEERFIELD, IL - A longtime Deerfield High School Spanish teacher who says she uses “humor as a technique” in class was not laughing last month when she was charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly placing her hands around the neck of a student following a school safety drill a month earlier.

Carrie Benito, of Mundelein, who has taught at DHS for more than 20 years, was charged with misdemeanor battery in December following a Deerfield police investigation into an incident in November, the Highland Park News reports.

A class discussion about what students would do if a shooter was on campus generated several responses from students, including one male student who said he would begin throwing objects to distract the shooter. Benito allegedly responded by placing her hands around his throat. She later told the Highland Park News the boy was constantly disrupting class without being called upon.

But the boy’s mother claims her son told her numerous people were speaking out of turn in the class and he was the only one singled out.

Benito described the action as being done in “a light-hearted, playful” manner.

“Anyone that knows me knows that I am an enthusiastic teacher that often uses humor as a technique,” she said, adding in her confidence that the matter will be dropped when it gets to court.

“I fully expect to be vindicated when the court hears the facts and circumstances of the incident,” she said.

The boy was not hurt in any way, according to Benito. He was, however, placed in a different Spanish class.

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