A former employee of a Utah residential youth treatment facility was accused Friday of assaulting a 16-year-old boy as part of an unofficial “fight club” at the school.
The Utah County attorney’s office says 21-year-old Misifoa Tautofi Seui Matagi hit the teenager in December as part of a club in which students and staffers at Provo Canyon School would “body” each other by throwing punches at each other’s chests.
“The victim had at least two bruises from these assaults, which constitutes serious physical injury,” charging documents alleged.
In a brief phone interview, Matagi said several students were “going bodies” when one teenager started punching him.
Matagi said he pushed the student off, “and then he started just coming back at me.”
He says he left the room and then the student continued to throw punches with his roommates.
“I got out of the room before it started getting all heated,” he said.
Matagi did not say whether there was a fight club at the school. He faces one count of felony child abuse.
Provo Canyon School describes itself as a provider of mental and behavioral health treatment for children and teenagers. School administrators did not respond to a request for comment about the case.
Deputy Utah County Attorney Craig Johnson said Matagi should not have engaged with the students’ activity at all.
“In an attempt to ingratiate himself to the students, he decided to go along with this instead of putting his foot down, reporting it and redirecting their efforts,” Johnson said.
He said his office wanted to “send a message” that people in Matagi’s position ought to display “a higher level of trust and responsibility.”
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