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Instructional assistant in New Port Richey arrested on child abuse charge

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NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — An instructional assistant at the Achieve Center in New Port Richey has been arrested for allegedly assaulting an eight-year-old student.

According to New Port Richey Police, witnesses said they saw Allan Craig pull the child out from underneath a table, throw him to the ground, and push him up against a wooden cabinet before taking him to another room.

In the other room, the child allegedly was seen with a bloody nose. The child told investigators that Craig had choked him earlier that morning on the bus.

New Port Richey Police said Craig sent a text message to a teacher asking them to falsely claim the victim had been in a fight with another child at the school.

Craig faces charges of felony child abuse and tampering with a witness.

ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska heads to Weedon Island, which has a rich history that dates back more than 12,000 years. During that time, it was home to Indigenous populations, a movie studio, an airport, a safe haven for bootleggers during prohibition, and so much more. Today, the preserve protects this wide diversity of natural and cultural resources for current and future generations.

Florida's Prehistoric People Revealed: A tour of Weedon Island Preserve