A teacher at Widmyer Elementary School in Berkeley Springs has been charged with three counts of felony child abuse causing injury following an investigation by Sgt. S. R. Smith of the West Virginia State Police. An arrest warrant for Jazmyn F. Rohrer, 28, was issued on December 13, according to court records in Morgan County Magistrate Court. School officials said Rohrer was charged on December 16. Rohrer’s address is listed as Shepherdstown.
According to a criminal complaint against Rohrer, Sgt. Smith was contacted on Wednesday, December 11 by Assistant Superintendent Jeromy Duelley regarding an incident at Widmyer Elementary the day prior. The complaint says three classroom aids reported seeing Rohrer physically assault a 6 year old student on three separate occasions. All of the incidents were recorded by video and included audio, the complaint noted.
The complaint describes video footage which showed Rohrer accompanying the student into a classroom and the child taking a seat. The student was then shown throwing a pencil. Following that, Rohrer is seen approaching the child from behind and placing “the full weight of her upper body on top of the child’s hands.”
According to the complaint, the child can be heard saying her teacher was hurting her, and Rohrer is shown continuing her actions until she realizes the child’s hands were turning purple.
Police describe there being two more occasions where Rohrer repeated those actions.
Sgt. Smith reports that he met with Duelley again on December 12, where it was discovered that Rohrer’s web browsing history contained a search related to Reynaud’s disease, a condition that causes restricted circulation to hands.
In an interview between Sgt. Smith and Rohrer, the teacher allegedly “admitted to inflicting pain” on the student and told the officer she knew it was wrong but she was “overwhelmed and stressed”.
Smith reportedly asked Rohrer if her actions were in alignment with the restraint training she had received as a special education teacher, and she said it was not.
Rohrer was hired by the Morgan County Board of Education in June of 2024 and began her position as an Alternative Education teacher for grades K-2 on August 12, according to minutes of the school board’s personnel actions.
Rohrer was charged with three felony counts of child abuse causing injury, and has been released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond pending further hearings in the case.
Morgan County Schools officials released a statement via social media on Tuesday evening, December 17 saying they were aware of Rohrer’s arrest the prior day. No mention of the incident was made during the Morgan County Board of Education’s evening meeting on December 17.
The school statement said the school system contacted police when they became aware of the classroom incident and made a mandatory report of the potential abuse to law enforcement and
“the appropriate state agencies”.
“Rohrer is not in the classroom, and the West Virginia Department of Education has also been notified. The West Virginia Department of Education will also take appropriate steps, such as immediately suspending Rohrer’s teaching license,” school officials wrote.
On December 18, Rohrer was not listed on the “Staff” directory of the Widmyer Elementary School website.
