SEE IT: Florida principal who paddled 6-year-old girl repeatedly is under investigation

An elementary school principal caught on camera disciplining a 6-year-old student by repeatedly striking her with a paddle in Florida is now being investigated.

The footage from the April 13 incident involving Principal Melissa Carter of Central Elementary School in Clewiston was secretly recorded by the unidentified student’s mother and published by local news station WINK-TV.

The young girl reportedly was being punished for causing $50 worth of damage to a school computer.

“The hatred with which she hit my daughter, I mean it was a hatred that, really I’ve never hit my daughter like she hit her,” the student’s mother said in Spanish to the TV station.

“I had never hit her.”

There was confusion due a language barrier when the school in South Florida contacted the girl’s mother and referenced paddling, according to WINK. When the woman arrived, there was no deputy there, despite a previous indication that there would be, the news station reported.

The State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit is now handling an investigation into the situation. A lawyer for the family says the office is reviewing if criminal charges against Carter and a school clerk will be pursued.

The clerk, identified as Cecilia Self, is also seen in the footage.

The elementary school is part of the Hendry County School District, which told WINK-TV it had “no comment.” Corporal punishment is prohibited by the school district.

“Nobody would have believed me,” the girl’s mother, who used her phone to record the incident, told WINK-TV.

“I sacrificed my daughter, so all parents can realize what’s happening in this school.”