White woman pleads guilty to assaulting black teen at swimming pool, fined $1,000

A white woman dubbed “Pool Patrol Paula” on social media pleaded guilty on Monday to assaulting a black teenager at a community pool in South Carolina over the summer.

Stephanie Sebby-Strempel, 38, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and battery, a misdemeanor, and was fined $1,000, WCIV reported.

{mosads}Sebby-Strempel was caught in a now viral video confronting a 15-year-boy and his friends at a pool in Summerville, S.C., in June.

She reportedly told them they “didn’t belong” there and ordered them to leave. The teenagers began collecting their things and started to leave. 

Sebby-Strempel, however, allegedly began calling them “punks” and using racial slurs, The State reported.

The video appears to also show her reaching for the camera before the video abruptly cuts off. She is accused of striking the teenager at least three times as he walked toward the exit.

A police report obtained by WCSC found that Sebby-Strempel bit one detective from the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office and pushed another into the wall when they attempted to serve her with an arrest warrant.

The victim’s mother, Deanna RocQuermore, told the outlet in June that they do not live in the community where the pool is located, but were invited to use the pool by someone who does.

“No child including mine or anybody else’s ever, ever, deserves that type of abuse or treatment,” RocQuermore said. “And to be struck not once, not twice, but three times by someone that is upset because of the color of someone’s skin, and they don’t belong at their swimming pool.”

Sebby-Strempel was later terminated as an independent consultant with skincare company Rodan + Fields.

“After assessing statements from law enforcement and determining that this former Independent Consultant’s actions violate our policies, she is no longer affiliated with Rodan + Fields,” the company said in a statement.

The video sparked outrage online, one of several widely publicized incidents caught on video of white people calling police on black people. 

Two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks in April for sitting in the cafe without ordering anything. 

A white woman nicknamed online “Barbecue Becky” called police on a black family who were setting up a charcoal grill in a public park.

A viral video from earlier this month showed a white woman dubbed “Permit Patty” calling 911 on a black girl selling bottled water in San Francisco.