A former Lenoir County Public Schools teacher has been charged after a video came to light showing her beating two students with an extension cord.

PATRICIA GRAHAM. Image via LCSO on Facebook.

Patricia Graham, age 71 has been charged with simple assault by the Lenoir County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) in connection with the incident.

On Mar. 2, the LCSO issued a post about the investigation and arrest on Facebook.

According to the LCSO statement, the students are 16- and 17-years-old; and their names are being withheld due to them being minors.

“The LCSO was notified about the potential assaults by a teacher against students around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The information was promptly directed to the South Lenoir High School Resource Officer, who started an investigation,” the statement says. During the investigation, deputies were able to recover the video and presented their findings to the Lenoir County District Attorney.”

After the district attorney viewed the footage, Graham was charged.

“We are not going to tolerate this type of behavior in our schools from people in positions of authority,” Lenoir County Sheriff Jackie Rogers said. “This video deeply disturbed me. I am proud of our Sheriff’s Office personnel who immediately responded to this and I commend them for their investigation that resulted in this arrest.”

Various outlets have embedded the video in their articles such as the one below posted by a WITN reporter.

Lenoir County Public Schools said Graham had worked for the district between 1976 and 2013 but had retired. Following retirement, she was a part-time teacher with the district.

Graham has apparently resigned, according to the district.

State law requires Lenoir County Public Schools’ superintendent to report the resignation to the N.C. State Board of Education.

There are nine licenses on file with the state for various individuals bearing the name Patricia Graham. Only one is active and does not match the defendant.