Marlin Roberts
Introduction
Marlin Roberts is a 29-year-old teacher at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, who was arrested on November 4, 2026, and charged with third-degree assault and battery after deputies said he grabbed a 15-year-old female student by the foot and dragged her across a classroom floor, leaving her with an abrasion. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department said Roberts was detained, admitted to the incident, and booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, where he awaited a bond hearing .
Background Information
Roberts taught at Spring Valley High School, a Richland County public school northeast of Columbia. The incident that ended his classroom career began as what the sheriff’s department itself described as horseplay — a detail that made the case unusual among teacher-arrest stories, since the physical encounter started as a joking exchange rather than a planned confrontation. Sheriff Leon Lott’s department released the account of the incident the same day as the arrest .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged; presumption of innocence. Roberts faces a misdemeanor-grade assault charge that has not been tested in court; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the school resource officer was notified around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, of an incident involving Roberts and a 15-year-old student. Deputies said Roberts began horseplaying with the student, who jokingly attempted a karate-style kick at him and fell to the floor. Roberts then allegedly grabbed the student by the foot and dragged her across the classroom floor; the student sustained an abrasion from being dragged. The student and her parents reported the incident .
Deputies said Roberts was detained and admitted to what had happened. He was placed under arrest and charged with assault and battery in the third degree, then taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center .
Public Reaction and Consequences
The arrest drew immediate attention locally precisely because of the horseplay framing — a teacher’s joking physical exchange with a student ending in a criminal charge, a night in the county detention center, and an injury report. WIS noted the case had “sparked strong reactions online” by the time Roberts appeared in bond court. At that hearing the following day, a bond was granted with conditions: Roberts cannot return to the incident location or contact the student .
Current Status
Roberts was charged with third-degree assault and battery, granted bond with no-return and no-contact conditions at his November 5 bond appearance, and awaits further court proceedings. No plea has been entered, no attorney statement appeared in the fetched coverage, and the Richland County Sheriff’s Department has not announced any additional charges. Spring Valley High School and Richland School District Two did not announce an employment action in the fetched coverage .
Impact on Their Career/Life
A teaching career built around classroom rapport ended in a single morning when horseplay crossed into a criminal charge — and the sheriff’s decision to arrest on the day of the incident, rather than route it through school discipline, made the classroom itself the scene of the record. For Spring Valley, the case lands in a district that has confronted school-security controversies before; for Roberts, the bond conditions bar him from the campus and from the student, and the misdemeanor charge now defines the first line of any search of his name .
Sources
- WIS, “‘Horseplay’ with student leads Spring Valley High School teacher’s arrest,” November 4, 2026 — source
- WOLO ABC Columbia, “High school teacher arrested after allegedly dragging student across classroom floor,” November 4, 2026 — source
- WACH, “Spring Valley High teacher appears in bond court after arrest in student incident,” November 2026 — source