TIFTON — A teacher of Eighth Street Middle School has been taken into custody on charges of battery and cruelty to children.

Officers of the Tifton Police Department took Dixie Hardy, 55, into custody following their investigation into a complaint received by the Tift County Schools Board of Education regarding a teacher allegedly assaulting students at the middle school.

The school board contacted the city police about the complaint May 9, after which they opened the investigation and charged hardy with a count of simple battery and cruelty to children to the first degree.

Hardy voluntarily turned herself in to the police department the morning of May 13, and is currently being held at the Tift County Sheriff’s Office awaiting arraignment.