Mother alleges abuse of son by teacher, describes experience as “torture”
By Amelia Mugavero
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Texas (KTVT) — A Midlothian mother is speaking publicly for the first time, alleging her 7-year-old son, who has Autism, was abused by his special education teacher.
“It felt like torture was happening to my child,” said Kristen Perez.
Perez said she is still processing what she claims was the emotional and physical abuse of her 7-year-old son, Jackson.
She said Jackson was recently diagnosed with high-functioning Autism, something that led Perez to transfer her son to a special education classroom at McClatchey Elementary in Midlothian Independent School District. She said when the alleged abuse happened, it was only his third day in that classroom.
“There was no one that was in that room to advocate for him or help him. And I hate that, and I’m scared to send him back,” Perez said.
She said the district showed her more than 40 minutes of video inside this elementary school on April 8 and 9, video she claims showed the teacher shoving her son to the ground, spraying him with a cleaning bottle, and forcefully restraining him.
The Midlothian mother has pictures showing a number of bruises and scratches across his body when Jackson came home from school.
“My son was crying out, you know, asking for help and saying, like, ‘you’re choking me.’ And, this teacher is just like, you know, like, hovering over him, saying ‘You’re not so tough now, are you, buddy?’ It could have killed him,” Perez said.
Perez said her son is still trying to be happy by playing games and creating art, but that his love of school is forever changed.
“And he told me, ‘it’s okay, mommy. I’m at least I’m alive,'” Perez says, “It just hurts my heart.”
The district said it will not release the name of the teacher due to the ongoing investigation. CBS News Texas also reached out to the Texas Education Agency to make sure the district reported the incident within 48 hours and has not heard back yet.
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