Principal won’t be charged in Penquis fight

MILO – No charges will be filed against Penquis Valley High School Principal John Robinson, who was accused of assaulting a student earlier this month.

The alleged assault reportedly occurred as Robinson tried to break up a fight between two students at the close of school. Robinson was accused of striking Ricky Eastman, 16, in the face, after the principal was hit by spit that Eastman claims was intended for his assailant.

“We are declining prosecution,” Piscataquis County District Attorney Christopher Almy said Friday.

There were two important aspects of the case that led to the decision not to press charges, according to Almy.

The investigation by the Milo Police Department revealed that the injuries that Eastman received were caused by another student during the altercation that Robinson was trying to stop, he said.

Secondly, “in our estimation it can be successfully argued that Mr. Robinson used force that was consistent with, one, defending himself; two, defending another person from an assault; and, three, the force he used was appropriate for the circumstances that he, as a school official, found himself in,” Almy said.

Although no charges will be filed against Robinson, Melanie Eastman, Ricky’s mother, said the family cannot disregard the incident. She said Friday that she and her husband, Roderick Eastman, would investigate civil action against Robinson. The couple have pulled their son from classes at Penquis Valley.

SAD 41 Superintendent David Walker said Friday that he was glad the district attorney had ruled on the incident.

“I’m pleased that certainly the investigation determined what we believed from the beginning, that Mr. Robinson in no way intentionally struck the student,” Walker said.