Charges were dropped against a Maywood teacher seen punching a student in a caught-on-video fistfight, authorities said Tuesday.
Marston Riley, a 65-year-old music instructor at Maywood Academy High School, drew community support following his arrest for the incident back in Nov. 2, 2018. A GoFundMe campaign raised over $191,000, more than three times its goal, to cover the teacher’s bail and legal expenses.
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss the misdemeanor count of corporal injury to a child against Riley, citing the circumstances surrounding the incident, the teacher’s age, and that the defendant has no criminal record and had no encounters with law enforcement since the incident at school, DA’s spokesman Paul Eakins said in a written statement. The music teacher also completed a 10-week anger management course.
The court granted the motion and the case was dismissed Tuesday.
Riley pleaded not guilty to the charge back in January.
According to students who witnessed the incident, Riley had asked the student to leave the room because he did not have the proper uniform on. The teen refused and proceeded to insult the teacher, students said.
The 14-year-old student boy can be heard using profanity and a racial slur, and can be seen hurling a basketball at Riley in a video of the incident.
The teacher is then seen taking out his phone before hitting the boy in the face, the recording shows.
Riley was forced into early retirement from his job, according to Eakins.