Minnesota sixth-grade teacher Jason Rogers, 49, lost his teaching license nationwide and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation after standing on three students’ backs during a school lockdown drill.
Rogers was sentenced Tuesday to two years’ probation and received a stay of adjudication on all three counts of malicious punishment of a child.
As conditions of his probation, Rogers must surrender his teaching license in any state, complete an anger management assessment, perform 90 hours of community service and write letters of apology to each victim.
The sentence lets Rogers avoid jail time.
A stay of adjudication is a legal arrangement in which the court temporarily puts proceedings on hold and delays entering a formal conviction, even though the defendant enters a guilty plea; if Rogers follows all court rules, the charges will be dismissed.
Rogers was also ordered to pay $2,250 in fines and fees.
The case stemmed from a February incident at Underwood School in Otter Tail County.
A sixth-grade student told investigators that Rogers, who court records indicate weighs more than 350 pounds, stepped on his back with both feet while the student was lying on his stomach during a lockdown drill.
The student reportedly told law enforcement that Rogers had stood on their back for about 10 seconds with both of his feet and would not get off despite yelling out and crying.
The boy’s mother said the saga had left her son so badly injured that he “was walking around like an 80-year-old from the pain in his back,” according to the criminal complaint.
Classmates feared the worst.
“He stated the entire class saw it and thought Defendant had broken [the boy’s] back,” according to the criminal complaint.
The child missed a week of school due to his injuries, according to court documents.
When questioned by police, Rogers explained his actions.
Rogers acknowledged he weighed roughly 350 pounds and admitted he did it because he didn’t think the students were taking the drill seriously enough at the time.
He said multiple kids were lying on their stomachs and that he had warned them he “could step on them in their current position.”
Rogers then allegedly put his foot on the injured student’s lower back and put his weight on him, the court documents stated.
He realized something was wrong quickly.
After he heard a groaning sound, and the student said “ouch,” he then asked if he was OK, charges state.
Rogers told investigators he hoped he didn’t hurt the student, admitting he weighed “more than 350 pounds” and that he couldn’t remember if he used one foot or two.
Rogers admitted to stepping on more students.
Rogers later admitted to stepping on two other students.
During the interview, the suspect admitted to stepping on another child with one foot and briefly walking over a third like a stair case.
The case proceeded through the courts over the following months.
In the viral moment that emerged from the February 10 incident at Underwood School, a sixth-grade student had been lying on his stomach during a lockdown drill when Rogers allegedly stood on his back with both feet for about 10 seconds. The boy cried out in pain and began crying, with the entire class witnessing what they feared was a serious injury. The student’s mother took him to Lake Region Hospital, where authorities were subsequently called to investigate the assault.
Rogers was charged in March 2025 after deputies were called to Lake Region Hospital following an incident at Underwood School in February 2025.
He was placed on administrative leave shortly after charges were filed in March 2025 and resigned from his position on April 12, ending a tenure that had begun in August 2012 — more than 13 years at the same school.
The apology letters represent a key part of his sentence.