Guilty: Teacher who abused special needs students must seek anger management treatment

A judge on Friday found former Wake County teacher James Rencher guilty on six counts of assaulting persons with disabilities. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and ordered to undergo treatment for anger management.

He was given a 60-day suspended jail sentence – if he messes up during probation he could go to jail. The verdict prohibits him from teaching ever again.

Rencher was accused of assaulting two students in his East Wake High School class in 2022, and those assaults went unreported until a series of reports by WRAL News. Teachers told WRAL News that they reported that Rencher dragged, choked and pushed students under his care at two separate schools.

On Friday, four teachers from East Wake testified that they saw Rencher repeatedly harm two students – Justin Hemphill and Christian King – students who have severe special needs and are unable to communicate to tell anyone that they were being hurt.

Former aide Angela Blalock said Rencher grabbed King's head, pushed it toward the desk and wouldn’t let the child move his head to look right or left. She also said Rencher grabbed Hemphill's shirt and jerked him backward by the neck.

Blalock said she was told she could either stay in Rencher’s classroom or accept a lower-paying position at the school.

Retired teacher Kimberly Tucker told the judge that it seemed like Rencher took delight in irritating kids.

In court, Rencher denied all of the allegations. Asked whether he did what witnesses described, Rencher said, "No I did not. And if it was perceived as assault,. that was not my intent."

After the hearing, Rencher's attorney, Seth Bloom said, "He loved being a teacher, and that's out of the picture for him."

The parents of Christian King expressed relief at the verdict.

"Now it's all over with. Now I can probably get better sleep at night," King's father, Tim King, said.

In June 2024, records leaked to WRAL Investigates revealed that East Wake High School principal Stacey Alston knew about the issues within three weeks of the start of the 2022-2023 school year. But it wasn't until April 2024, a day after a report on WRAL News, that Rencher resigned his teaching position. In June, records show senior administrator Perry Aaron reported the alleged assaults to the Wake County Sheriff's Office. Later that month, Rencher was charged with 12 counts of assaulting persons with disabilities. Following Rencher’s arrest, the Wake County School district announced it was conducting an internal review.