Kentucky teacher charged with assault for dragging autistic boy through school corridors

A Kentucky teacher has been charged with assault after an investigation into video footage appearing to show her dragging a 9-year-old boy with autism throughout the hall of a school.

The incident in the footage took place in October at Wurtland Elementary School. The Greenup County School District fired the teacher on Monday—more than two months after the alleged dragging incident occurred.

“The teacher was removed from the school and a formal investigation was conducted,” Sherry Horsely, the school district’s superintendent, said in a statement. “The superintendent also followed protocol and reported the incident to the Kentucky Education Standards Board.”

Angel Nelson, the mother of the boy victim, said on Facebook that her son was forcibly removed from the classroom after having an outburst. The video surveillance from the school shows a woman dragging a young boy by his wrist throughout the school’s hallways. Throughout the video, the boy is either lying on his back or sliding on his knees.

The school district did not release the woman’s name or position at the school.

The boy in the video is diagnosed with autism, ADHD, PTSD, anxiety and depression, Ms Nelson said. She also said her son has very limited speech and often experiences a “meltdown” due to his diagnoses.

Ms Nelson said her son had an outburst after a teacher told him to “keep working,” or do more work, when he needed to take a break.

“He was not hurting anyone,” the mother said.

The cameras in the classroom was turned away into a corner, thus making it difficult to see what happened there. But according to Ms Nelson’s Facebook post, her son said the teacher threw him hard onto a chair.

“We will never truly know what took place behind that closed door because of my son’s speech limitations,” Ms Nelson wrote on Facebook. “This incident was violent enough to not only injure my child, but to also destroy his shoes.”

She took her son to the doctor the same day he was dragged. He had x-rays and an MRI scan taken of his wrist and tailbone. The doctor discovered a possible left wrist fracture and confirmed a sprain in one of his wrists.

“In days following, he suffered swelling and bruising around his wrist,” Ms Nelson said.

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In addition to the physical injuries, Ms Nelson said her son suffers emotional trauma from the incident.

“She made him feel different,” the mother said, making the point that the teacher humiliated her son in front of other students. She said her son will have to go through “more intense occupational therapy to regain his skills that took so long to grasp.”

“My son deserves justice,” Ms Nelson added. “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.”

The teacher is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday. She is charged with fourth-degree assault—a misdemeanour.