Teacher accused of putting boy with autism in trash can.

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Via Wsb-tv (http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/national ... -in/nk94C/)

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A veteran Georgia special education teacher is accused of putting a second-grader with autism in a trash, saying his behavior was similar to Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, according school system police.

Mary Katherine Pursley, a teacher at Mt. Bethel Elementary in Cobb County, was attempting to calm the child during an after-school program Thursday afternoon, witnesses told police.

“The accused talked with the victim about Oscar the Grouch and his ‘trashy behavior’,” Pursley’s arrest warrant states. “The accused told the victim, ‘If he had trashy behavior like Oscar, he’d go to the trash can’.”


Pursley then allegedly picked up the child by his legs, held him upside down and put him head-first into a trash can, according to police.

“Are you going to stop yelling now?” Pursley asked the boy, witnesses said.

The boy was crying, screaming and yelling “stop” while being held by Pursley, the arrest warrant states. She then set the boy down on the floor. The incident was witnessed by two paraprofessionals and the school after-school director. Other students in the classroom also witnessed Pursley’s actions, according to police.

Pursley, 45, of Atlanta, was arrested Monday night and charged with cruelty to children in the first degree, Cobb County jail records showed. She was released early Tuesday after posting $5,000 bond.

Pursley, who has been with the school district for 21 years, is on administrative leave with pay while the matter is under review, a spokeswoman for the school system said.

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It's all fine and good if this person gets fired and/or charged but the sad fact is there's still more like them in the shadows I recall having to deal with my own abusive teacher when I moved here to Atlanta area

Bad that it happened to this poor child; good that she was caught and arrested.

But I share the sadness for those in the unreported shadows who suffer such abuse. If this perpetrator has been a teacher for 21 years, I would be surprised if this were her first abusive act.

So according to that teacher, placing a child in a trash can is intended to CALM him? *shaking my head* Good thing she was arrested. I wonder how she got hired?

Teacher charged with putting student in trash says she was joking

Even if she was joking, a teacher, let alone a SPECIAL NEEDS teacher should not make that sort of physical contact with a student. What she did was very inappropriate.

It's not just the physical contact, but the symbolism... "You are trash." ..."Look here at this person, they're trash!"

Board Fires Teacher Accused of Lowering Boy Into Trash

why was autism in the trash can?

I hope that teacher never again gets hired in any sort of educational position.