GONZALES - A mother said she is heartbroken after her 9-year-old special needs son was physically abused by a teacher at Gonzales Primary School. 

Harris said she saw the marks on her son when he got home from school Aug. 26. She said he is non-verbal and deals with autism, a traumatic brain injury, and cerebral palsy.

"His neck was very red with scratches and nail marks. He had finger bruises on the side of his bicep and he had a huge scratch down his right side," mother Paige Harris said. 

Harris contacted the school. She said administration pulled surveillance video from the classroom and gave it to special education director Lynn Hathaway to review. Days later, Harris finally heard back — but wasn't expecting the response that she got. 

"They called me and said they saw absolutely nothing on the video as to why my child had bruises on him. All they saw a para do was wipe his nose aggressively. I asked to see the video at that point because I knew something else was going on," she said.

When she viewed the video herself she saw his teacher, 47-year-old Danyel Anderson, yank her son by the arm, take away his communication device, and aggressively wipe his face after he screamed for 10 minutes in a chair he couldn't get out of.

"My child being abused once was all it took. There is another incident that I have not viewed yet because I walked out to get my child, because for two weeks everyone who knew allowed my child to be in the classroom with those teachers," Harris said.

Harris went to social media with her story on Friday, Sept. 6. She says that's when Ascension Parish Superintendent Edith Walker was finally made aware of the situation.

"Somebody screenshotted my post on Facebook and sent it to her. It should have been reported to her the moment they knew abuse was happening," Harris said.

The school system wouldn't confirm when Walker was alerted, but paraprofessional Danyel Anderson was arrested Sept. 7. She was booked with felony cruelty to persons with infirmities.

"The safety and security of our students and staff are our highest priorities, and we enforce a strict zero-tolerance policy toward any adult who endangers a student," Walker said in a statement about the arrest. 

Sunday, a school system spokesperson said special education director Lynn Hathaway is no longer an employee. 

Even though both Anderson and Hathaway are not with the school system anymore, Harris said her son will likely not attend Ascension Parish Public Schools in the future.