ATLANTA (AP) — A Cobb County principal and counselor have been fired for failing to report an incident of suspected child sexual abuse to authorities within a 24-hour timeframe.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (http://bit.ly/HsjClW ) reports that the school board on Wednesday fired principal Jerry Dority and counselor Yatta Collins of Tapp Middle School in Powder Springs.

School system records say a student told Collins in January she tried to hang herself in her closet. The girl had marks on her neck, but would not explain herself to Collins.

Another student claimed that day that the girl had been sexually abused by her stepfather.

Collins told Dority that day and waited two days to notify the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.

Dority and Yatta were arrested in early March and charged with failure to report child abuse.