Carpenter gets 2 years of supervised probation

BLOUNTVILLE — Former tenured Kingsport City Schools special education teacher Michelle Carpenter was sentenced Friday afternoon on two felony charges of child abuse directed at pre-school students in her care, part of a guilty plea she made in October. However, she will not face jail or prison time if she satisfies requirements during two years of probation, which doesn't sit well with parents of students at the sentencing hearing. Sullivan County Circuit Court Judge Bill Rogers, citing a 2023 Tennessee Court of Appeals ruling in a similar case, sentenced Carpenter to two years of supervised probation with no incarceration, followed by the judicial diversion. He said that was in part because she had a "spotless record" prior to the felony charges. Three parents spoke to give victim impact statements, with two crying, and fourth not in attendance submitted a statement that was read into the record by a district attorney's office representative. Carpenter spoke in court in an allocution statement, a legal term for appealing to the judge for leniency, and also cried. One of the terms of probation is Carpenter have no contact with the 10 children at the heart of the case, pointed out at the end of the hearing by Assistant District Attorney Lauren Williams. "It's been over four years now, and my child is still scared to go to the bathroom," parent Eric Montressor said of his 7-year-old non-verbal son during his impact statement. Outside the courtroom after the sentencing, he said: "It doesn't feel like justice." Two of the three parents who spoke, including Montressor plus his wife, Lauren, were willing to do video statements about the sentencing. Those are viewable on the Kingsport Times News YouTube page and on the newspaper's website. The Montressor family recently moved to the Raliegh, North Carolina, area because of his job, but two other children identified as victims in the case remain in the area, one in KCS. Tina Kessler said her son, 7, "lives in fear no child should," can't sleep in his own bedroom along or go to the bathroom alone. "I find comfort that justice will be served, both here on earth and in God's time," she said before the sentencing. Afterward, outside the courtroom she said people "without reasources" wouldn't get such treatment by the courts. Her son moved to a Sullivan County Schools facility, she and her husband, John Love, said outside the court and after the sentencing. "I don't feel it was harsh enough," Love said. Alexis Bear, who also cried in her impact statement, said her son, also 7, will be affected for the rest of his life with post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic anxiety, depresssion, panic attacks and other issues after Carpenter put his hands behind his head and forced him to "sit on the training potty." He was unable to have a bowel movement, but doctors eventually told here it was a psychological problem, not a physical one. She said he takes Prozac daily and has nervous ticks. He remains in KCS in a different school, she said. "I never intended to harm a child. However, I now understand intent does not outweigh impact," Carpenter, represented by Kingsport attorney Wayne Culbertson, said at the hearing. "My hope for any children I once taught have never changed," she added, then crying and adding she hoped all reached their fullest potential." She declined comment after the hearing, when she was surrounded by supporters outside the courtroom. In a nutshell, all the statements indicated the children were abused by Carpenter, some in ways not easily detectable, including using fingernail pressure in their underarms. Some were punished for not learning to use the bathroom and are still fearful to go into a bathroom alone, the parents also said. "There's nothing the state can say that's more impactful than what was offered by these families," Assistant District Attorney Lauren Williams said before Rogers decided the sentence. Rogers said the after effects of the "terrible situation" wouldn't end no matter the sentence and that special needs children have "special place in my heart." BACKGROUND Carpenter was originally charged with 20 felony counts, two each for alleged physical abuse of 10 students at Johnson Elementary School. They were 3- and 4-year old children, many of whom were nonverbal and/or autistic. The sentencing came after her 2023 indictment by a Sullivan County grand jury. The abuse was alleged to have occurred between August 2021 and March 2022. Carpenter Oct. 10 appeared before Rogers and that day in the criminal case entered an Alford plea to two counts of child abuse and neglect, meaning she does not admit guilt but acknowledges that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to find her guilty. As part of the plea agreement, counts 3 through 20 were dismissed. Of the two charges to which she pled guilty, one involved Montressor's son. Williams Oct. 10 said the plea includes a stipulation of facts, which includes allowing the families of the victims to give victim impact statements at Carpenter's sentencing. In addition, Carpenter was allowed to give the allocution. Carpenter said she spoke "with empathy for everyone affected by this situation" and was saddened by the "confusion and division" the case has generated. "This experience has deeply shaped me," Carpenter said, adding she was "challenged and humbled" by it. "I apologize for the distress that resulted from this situation." She said she decided to retire from teaching. She was suspended without pay by KCS beforehand. However, she maintained she performed her job with the "guidance and training of my school district" and will not teach again. "I still love teaching, but I no longer have what it takes to be a teacher," adding that handling up to 14 special need children in one classroom required split-second decisions especially with "limited staff and resources." She said the classroom and bathroom were not designed for special needs children," coupled with "inconsistent custodial support." "I accept responsibility for concerns raised about my actions," she said. "The outcome was not acceptable." However, she also said that while her reputation is in the hands of others, "character is my own responsibility." Rogers said the case "is going to define you for the rest of your life." KCS suspended Carpenter without pay for the incidents in 2021 and 2022. In December 2023, Kingsport City Schools reached an out-of-court settlement in a federal civil lawsuit filed on behalf of four of the 10 students. The school system agreed to pay $280,000 to settle the case, which accused Carpenter of abuse and further claimed several school officials failed to properly handle reports of abuse in a timely manner. The civil case was separate from Carpenter's ongoing criminal proceedings. District Attorney Barry Staubus and the grand jury in statements at the time of the indictments said KCS violated state law by initiating an internal investigation of the allegations instead of immediately turning them over to local and state law enforcement. The civil lawsuit cited reports from classroom aide Tiffany Clark and speech pathologist Hunter Leedy, who had raised concerns about alleged mistreatment in Carpenter's classroom. Carpenter was indicted in 2023 and made her first appearance before Judge Bill Rogers in January 2024. A series of status hearings followed the January appearance until Carpenter's October plea. Kingsport Times News staff writers Rebekah McNerney and Allison Winters contributed to this article.