Teacher Arrested In Connection With Assault Of Autistic Child At Children Academy In Galloway Township
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) -- A Galloway Township teacher is under arrest and faces charges in connection with an alleged assault against an autistic child back in April. Police say the teacher voluntarily surrendered and was arrested.
The young boy's mother is furious and has a message for parents.
That's little Blessen with a large bruise on the side of his face.
His mother, Jehan Attiyeh, says a teacher slapped her autistic, non-verbal son while he was at the Children Academy in Galloway Township back in April. She remembers getting the phone call from a worker that Blessen woke up from his nap with a bruise.
"You see an adult-sized handprint, you see it come from an angle from behind like that," Attiyeh said.
She pressed staff about what happened and took the then 2-year-old to Hammonton Hospital.
"His ear blood vessels was ruptured. His eye was swollen. His nose had bruising on it," Attiyeh said. "You can just tell it was an adult smack."
The Galloway Township Police Department opened an investigation into what happened.
On Monday, staff member 36-year-old Jamie Price was arrested and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault.
"You feel like you failed your child," Attiyeh said. "You feel like your child went through something, and you weren't there to protect them."
Blessen's mom says physically he's healed, but the abuse took an emotional toll.
"Blessen won't go to sleep if I am not holding him," Attiyeh said. "He wakes up in the middle of the night, he's crying -- like nightmares and night terrors."
She has a message for other parents.
"I want them to pay close attention to their children," Attiyeh said. "Your children will tell you when they are being mistreated and go with your gut."
The police department thanked the owners and staff of Children Academy for their cooperation while it investigated the incident.
Children Academy had no comment.
CBS3's Jan Carabeo contributed to this report.
