Ex-Beaumont teacher gets probation for punching child

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BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — A former assistant math teacher in Beaumont has been sentenced to 10 years of probation after being found guilty of punching a 12-year-old student in the face.

The Beaumont Enterprise (http://bit.ly/1NbSjlq ) reports a Jefferson County jury Wednesday sentenced 25-year-old Michael Jirrod Fisher. He was found guilty Tuesday of injury to a child. If Fisher breaks probation terms, he will serve seven years in prison.

During the trial, prosecutors played footage from the middle school's surveillance camera showing the attack.

Witnesses, including a teacher, testified that Fisher punched the seventh-grader in 2013 after he'd fallen to the ground in an attempt to get away.

Fisher took the stand Wednesday, saying he took full responsibility for the attack and he wished he could take it back.

Fisher was fired following the incident.

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Information from: The Beaumont Enterprise, http://beaumontenterprise.com