SEDALIA, Mo. -- A Warrensburg man is accused of assaulting students while substitute teaching at a middle school.

Timothy Neal Thomure, 46, was charged March 8 in Johnson County with seven counts of felony assault on school property and one count of armed criminal action. He's free on a $50,000 bond.

The charges stem from incidents March 5 at Knob Noster Middle School. Thomure is accused of squeezing the backs of several students' necks, bent one student's finger backward and rubbed a knife blade along another student's finger.

Thomure admitted touching and squeezing students to "loosen them up and get them to interact," according to the criminal complaint.