Associated Press

PNENIX CITY, Ala. (AP) -- Authorities say an east Alabama teacher is accused of taping together two students who had not been getting along.

The teacher, 24-year-old Sierra Pettway, has been charged with two counts of willful abuse of a child in Phenix City.

The Ledger-Enquirer reports (http://bit.ly/XWDQy) that the charges stemmed from an investigation by the Alabama Department of Human Resources.

Phenix City Superintendent Larry DiChiara said Pettway reported the incident herself to school officials on Tuesday. She's a first-year teacher at Phenix City Intermediate School.

It wasn't known early Friday whether she has an attorney.

DiChiara said Pettway is accused of wrapping together the forearms of a sixth-grade boy and girl "so they would have to sit arm to arm."

Phenix City is just across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Ga.