Authorities say a teacher at an alternative community resource center in Johnstown is being accused of assaulting a non-verbal child.
The teacher, who is reportedly no longer employed by the school, allegedly left a shoe imprint on the child’s back.
On Thursday, the child’s mother spoke out after charges were filed against the teacher earlier this week.
Police say 42-year-old Kirsten Makosy, of Revloc, is being charged for allegedly assaulting a non-verbal/autistic child.
According to court documents, she was a teacher at the Johnstown Alternative Community Resource Program School in November when the alleged incident occurred.
According to the affidavit, Makosy allegedly told police she was looking to protect the child.
The mother of the 12-year-old child says that, in November, she reportedly received a call from her son’s school saying that a teacher had been standing on her son’s back.
“At first I thought it might not be that big of a deal until he came home, and I saw the shoe imprint on his back, along with the red mark on the back of his neck and some welts. I realized how much pressure must’ve been put on him and how scared he must’ve been and unable to say anything,” said Shari Carney, the boy’s mother.
According to police, Makosy says that the child started being aggressive, “throwing tantrums” and was headed towards a hot radiator inside the classroom.
Police say Makosy later told officers that she stuck her foot out and the student rolled into it.
While Makosy claims that she ‘applied deep pressure,’ she says she did not stand on the child.
“You have to stand on somebody, in my opinion, pretty hard to leave a full shoe imprint on somebody’s back,” Carney added.
Carney noted that her son does continue to attend the ACRP school.
“I don’t think that one person should make the whole school look bad because they’re absolutely great with him.”
Carney say that the teacher is reportedly no longer employed at the school, however we reached out to the school for comment and confirmation of her employment status but have not yet heard back.
Carney adds that it took her son about two weeks to mentally and physically recover from the incident, but he is doing better now.
According to online court records, Makosy is charged with misdemeanors for simple assault and child endangerment.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 22nd.