A mother who says her autistic child was "emotionally traumatized" after being dragged through his school by a teacher has released footage of the incident.
On Facebook Sunday, Angel Nelson detailed what happened to her 9-year-old son while he was in Wurtland Elementary school, Greenup County, on October 24 last year. Yesterday, district officials confirmed the teacher in question had been "removed from the school."
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"My son deserves justice," Nelson wrote on the social media platform alongside the video, which is over a minute long. "Do you want to walk," the teacher is heard asking the child in the clip. "No," he replied, while apparently being dragged along the school hallway in front of other kids.
The mother said her child has autism, ADHD, PTSD, anxiety and limited speech. She claimed that he sustained multiple wrist injuries after being pulled by the teacher. Nelson wrote in her post that she was making the school surveillance footage public "for help and advice."
In a statement released on Monday, the Greenup County School district confirmed a formal investigation had been launched after the situation was reported—and action was taken.
"The district followed established safety protocol as soon as this situation became known," it said. "The parent was contacted immediately and the student was assessed by the school nurse and referred for outside medical evaluation. Child Protective Services was contacted and the Kentucky State Police opened an investigation. The teacher was removed from the school."
The Kentucky State Police told WCHS-TV the teacher was charged with fourth degree assault. The news outlet said the teacher was expected to appear in court tomorrow.
In the mother's Facebook update, which has now been shared more than 1,000 times, she said her son claimed the teacher also "threw him hard down onto a chair" but acknowledged there was no video obtained from inside the classroom. "Beyond this, we will never truly know what took place behind that closed door because of my son's speech limitations," Nelson said.
The child's stepfather, Calep Nelson, told WSAZ-TV, said that the female teacher responsible should "possibly face the inside of a jail" for her actions. "She didn't beat him to a bloody pulp, but she did abuse a child," he said. "Anybody that does that to a child should go to jail."
The school district was keen to stress it had followed "established safety protocol." Its statement continued: "The superintendent also followed protocol and reported the incident to the Kentucky Education Standards Board. The EPSB determines whether or not a teacher keeps their teaching certificate. All GCSD staff are trained to prevent incidents of restraint."
But the victim's mother said more could be done to stop similar cases in the future.
"Schools should have more training for teachers to handle children with disabilities and to learn proper protocol," she wrote. "There should also be more laws in place for any child, like my son who are abused by the adults we entrust to care for them.
"The fact that my son is not able to fully verbalize what he went through means that we must fight that much harder for all kids, but especially the kids who cannot speak for themselves."
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Jason Murdock is a staff reporter for Newsweek.
Based in London, Murdock previously covered cybersecurity for the International Business Times UK ... Read more
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