In Tennessee, an employee at a school for children with behavioral challenges allegedly chose confrontation over calming tactics with a 10-year-old student. The child’s mother claims the staff member forcefully threw her son across a room by his ankle, as reported by local authorities.

The young boy reportedly described the incident to his mother, Katelyn Swainson, saying, “He tossed me off the couch so fast, like Superman.” Swainson shared this account with the local news outlet, Clarksville Now, earlier this week.

William Sturgill, 43, now faces charges of child abuse or endangerment stemming from the incident at Oak Plains Academy last May. He was arrested in August, and court records indicate his trial is scheduled for December 15.

Swainson recounted receiving a call from her son on May 28, detailing the altercation with Sturgill, who allegedly became angry over a disagreement involving a blanket, according to Clarksville Now.

“Instead of de-escalating the situation as he was trained to do, Mr. Sturgill approached my child aggressively, shouting and pointing at him,” Swainson stated. “My son instinctively ran away in a fight-or-flight response.”

The boy has been attending Oak Plains to help with behavioral issues that his mother says stem from autism, ADHD and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD). He allegedly ran into a dayroom while Sturgill chased after him and threw him onto a couch, according to Clarksville Now, which cites Sturgill’s arrest warrant.

Swainson says Sturgill, who was allegedly caught on video, was shoving her son repeatedly onto the couch as he attempted to get up. The child kicked Sturgill “straight in between his legs” during the physical dispute and “that’s when Mr. Sturgill reacted by grabbing him by his ankles,” according to Swainson.

“And I mean he (Sturgill) pulled him off the couch so hard and so fast that his head smacked on the floor first,” Swainson said. Her son sustained bruising to his left wrist and shoulder, according to police.

“He was making progress there,” Swainson told Clarksville Now, in reference to Oak Plains, which describes itself online as a “residential treatment facility that provides services to boys and girls ages 7-17, struggling with emotional, behavioral and neurodevelopmental challenges,” per its website.

“We were seeing that he was going down the right path, but then this happened and kind of set us all back,” Swainson said.

Oak Plains has confirmed to Clarksville Now that Sturgill is no longer employed at the facility after management reviewed the video of the alleged incident. The center did not respond to Law&Crime’s request for comment on Wednesday.