By By Adam Prestridge
special to the standard
A kindergarten teacher at Rachel Patterson Elementary School has been placed on administrative leave after an Escambia County grand jury indicted her along with her husband on felony and misdemeanor child abuse charges.
The grand jury returned indictments on the Atmore couple Friday, said Escambia County Chief Deputy Mike Lambert.
Terry Desmond Linam, 44, and his wife, Tracy Linam, 37, of 6045 Chapman Road in Atmore were both charged with three counts of aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony, and three counts of domestic violence, third degree, a Class A misdemeanor, said Joy Patterson, spokesperson for the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
Escambia County School Board Superintendent Billy Hines could only confirm that Tracy Linam had been placed on paid administrative leave.
The couple was booked into the Escambia County Detention Center and later released on a combined bond of $165,000 each.
Lambert said the children involved in the case were Terry Linam’s from a previous marriage and that the alleged abuse  was physical, not sexual.
If convicted, each felony count holds a sentence of one to 20 years, and each misdemeanor count holds a sentence of one year in jail, Lambert said.
No employment information was given for Terry Desmond Linam.
Lisa Tindell contributed to this report.