WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — A substitute teacher has been indicted on two felony counts for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl in the middle of a classroom, records show.
The teen's family is upset it took two years for charges to be filed, adding the school never made other parents aware of the accusations in the meantime.
The family feels so strongly about this that the victim publicly came forward to tell her story and help protect other children.
Summer, now 15 years old, is standing tall.
11Alive has chosen not to use her last name due to her age but chose to tell her story per her request.
She's proud of herself and how far she's come, but she said she didn't always feel this way.
"When nothing happened after I first spoke out about it, it made me feel like I wasn't important like it didn't matter to anybody," she said. "I just felt like, 'OK, I said something, but was I heard?' I would literally sleep my days away because I felt so unimportant like I didn't matter."
When Summer was 13, she was allegedly groped by a substitute teacher at Loganville Middle School in 2020 in front of her entire math class, according to a Walton County Police Department report.
She said she was scared, but she disclosed the attack to her homeroom teacher.
"You don't want to go against an authority figure because you don't want to get in trouble. So if I say this, 'Are they going to believe me?'," she said.
Summer's principal called the teen's mother and the substitute was walked out of school that day. The family anticipated they would soon hear about criminal charges.
Instead, they heard silence.
"The principal didn't follow up; a counselor didn't follow up to see how she was feeling, to ask, 'Are you OK?'" Britt, Summer's mother said.
Britt said the school never alerted other parents about what happened, but they say what's worse is that the school resource officer never gave a report to law enforcement.
"That should have gone immediately to the sheriff’s office. I should not have had to do my own investigation and go to the sheriff’s office," Summer's mother said.
After Britt went to the sheriff’s office, Walton School substitute teacher Wyatt Fielden was arrested on two felony counts of child molestation and sexual touching by a school employee.
In a statement, the school district told 11Alive that the substitute teacher had been fired and did not have a history of inappropriate touching.
"Mr. Fielden was terminated on March 9, 2020 following an investigation by the Walton County School District’s Human Resources team for poor classroom management and failure to follow lesson plans. Prior to his termination there had not been any reports of inappropriate touching or actions of a sexual nature. While the alleged incident at Loganville Middle School occurred on the same day, the incident had not been reported prior to Mr. Fielden’s meeting with HR and his termination.
The initial report at the school level did not disclose as much information as the criminal investigation, conducted by the Walton County Sherriff’s Office, revealed following the charges pressed on March 18, 2020.
Student safety and well-being are the Walton County School District’s top priorities. District and school officials have fully cooperated with local law enforcement to ensure this incident has been fully investigated."
Two and a half years after the incident, he was indicted Tuesday.
Britt and Summer are worried there may be other victims.
"I just wish more parents were alerted. And I don't want any other kids to feel like this is their fault. I want them to feel like they're safe at school," said Britt.
Summer's family hired an attorney to try and force the school district to change its policy for reporting alleged abuse -- if it doesn’t, the family intends to file a lawsuit in federal court.