by Clarksville, TN – A Tennessee man who worked at a behavioral treatment school for children has been charged with child abuse after allegedly throwing a 10-year-old boy by his ankles, an incident that was reportedly caught on video and described by the child as being “yeeted off the couch like Superman.”
The suspect, William Sturgill, 43, was arrested in August and charged with one count of child abuse or endangerment for the May 28 altercation at Oak Plains Academy, a residential treatment facility in Ashland City. His trial is scheduled for December 15, according to court records.
The Incident
The boy’s mother, Katelyn Swainson, told Clarksville Now that her son called her on the day of the incident to say that Sturgill became angry over a blanket dispute and began yelling instead of de-escalating the situation as staff are trained to do.
“Mr. Sturgill, instead of walking up to my child and deescalating him like he’s trained to do, walked up to him and was screaming and pointing in his face,” Swainson said. “My son ran from him — like fight or flight.”
According to an arrest warrant, Sturgill chased the boy into a dayroom, where he allegedly threw him onto a couch multiple times. When the boy tried to get up, Sturgill was seen on video shoving him back down.
The child reportedly kicked Sturgill “straight in between his legs” during the altercation. That’s when, according to Swainson, the staff member grabbed the boy by his ankles and yanked him off the couch, causing his head to hit the floor.
“He pulled him off the couch so hard and so fast that his head smacked on the floor first,” Swainson said.
Police confirmed the boy suffered bruises to his left wrist and shoulder.
“He Yeeted Me Like Superman”
After the incident, Swainson said her son described what happened in terms that stunned her:
“He told me, ‘Mom, he yeeted me off the couch so fast like Superman.’”
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The child, who has autism, ADHD, and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), had been attending Oak Plains for behavioral therapy. Swainson said she had seen progress — until the alleged assault.
“We were seeing that he was going down the right path, but then this happened and kind of set us all back,” she said.
Facility Response
Oak Plains Academy, which describes itself as a residential treatment facility for children ages 7–17 struggling with emotional and neurodevelopmental challenges, confirmed that Sturgill is no longer employed at the facility.
“Management reviewed the video of the incident,” a spokesperson said, “and Mr. Sturgill is no longer employed with us.”
Authorities have not released the footage publicly, but investigators say it corroborates the child’s and mother’s accounts of what happened.
Sturgill remains free on bond as he awaits trial.
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