A five-year-old boy with autism was reportedly put on a record as a sex offender after hugging his classmate.
Nursery school pupil Nathan was reported for hugging the child and his parents warned he would be placed on a record "for the rest of his life", his family claim
Nathan, who attends East Ridge Elementary in Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.A., was allegedly accused by teachers of overstepping a boundary.
Summery Putnam, Nathan's guardian, told News Channel 9 , that she received a call from his teacher at the start of September.
She said the teacher told her he had been accused of “sexual activities” for hugging a child and kissing another child on the cheek.
Ms Putnam said her son had now ides he had crossed any kind of boundary, adding: "He doesn’t know what he’s doing wrong."
She said her son has now switched classrooms and teachers and is enrolled in special education services.
In a Facebook post shared with the news outlet, Nathan’s grandmother, Debi Amick, questioned why the school wouldn't listen to the family or their doctor about the challenges the youngster was facing.
She wrote: “It was disclosed that it will go in his record for the rest of his life that he is a sex offender.
“This child is autistic, he comprehends and functions very different than your typical five-year-old. What do you do?
“Who do you turn to for help when the school will not even listen to the child’s doctor when he explains the child’s difficulties in his comprehension of simple things such as boundaries?"
Spokesman for the Hamilton County Department of Education Tim Hensley said, in a statement, schools were entitled to report any concerns they had regarding a child.
He said: “School personnel are required to concerns regarding children to the Department of Child Services (DCS).
"It’s up to DCS to determine if those reports are acted on by DCS and what form those actions may take."
