Patriot Brief
A special education aide in Nevada is charged after allegedly dragging an autistic child down a school hallway.
The incident raises serious questions about safeguards for vulnerable students in public schools.
Similar allegations elsewhere suggest this is not an isolated failure, but a systemic one.
This is one of those stories that should stop the conversation cold.
According to surveillance footage and witness accounts, a special education aide at a Clark County elementary school allegedly dragged a child with autism by the arm for roughly 30 feet down a hallway. The aide, Zachary May, now faces felony charges for battery on a vulnerable person and child abuse or neglect. Those charges exist for a reason: society recognizes that children with special needs are owed a higher duty of care, not a lower standard of patience.
The details matter. The student had limited verbal abilities. The child wasn’t acting violently or threatening anyone. By all accounts, the student simply wandered into a classroom and tried to greet other children. When compliance wasn’t immediate, frustration took over — and that frustration allegedly turned physical.
That should never happen. Not once. Not anywhere.
What’s especially disturbing is that this wasn’t a split-second accident or a misunderstood restraint. Witnesses described the child falling to their knees while still being pulled. Surveillance footage reportedly shows the child later trying to flee again, only to be grabbed and dragged once more. Whatever euphemisms are used — “minor restraint,” “control,” “redirecting behavior” — dragging a child across the floor by the arm is not care. It’s abuse.
The fact that no visible injuries were found later doesn’t soften the act. Trauma isn’t always measured in bruises. For a child with autism, especially one with limited communication, the fear and confusion caused by an adult using force can linger long after physical marks fade.
What makes this story worse is that it doesn’t appear to be isolated. Similar allegations in Pennsylvania, involving abuse in an autism support classroom, suggest a deeper problem: systems that fail to protect the very children they are entrusted to serve. In that case, reports included excessive restraints, denial of water, and even a child found naked in a classroom. Those aren’t procedural lapses. They are red flags screaming for intervention.
School board member James Pepper has publicly said he pushed for further investigation and was rebuffed. That should alarm parents everywhere. When accountability stalls, harm multiplies.
This isn’t an argument against special education. It’s an argument for taking it seriously. Vulnerable children require trained professionals, clear oversight, and zero tolerance for abuse disguised as discipline. When that standard slips, the consequences aren’t abstract. They’re borne by kids who often can’t even tell us what happened.
If there’s any silver lining here, it’s that cameras caught what words might not have. But a system that relies on surveillance to protect children has already failed them.
From Western Journal:
A special education aide in Clark County, Nevada, allegedly dragged a child with autism by the arm 30 feet down the hallway.
Surveillance footage at J.E. Manch Elementary School recorded Zachary May, 21, allegedly holding onto the arm of and dragging the autistic student down the hall earlier this year, according to a report from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The student has limited verbal communication capabilities, but had entered a classroom door and tried to greet fellow students.
That’s when May allegedly tried getting the student to leave, but faced some degree of difficulty.
According to one eyewitness, the student fell to their knees, at which point May allegedly “aggressively grabbed (them) by the arm and dragged (them) out of the classroom while (the student) was still on the floor.”
May allegedly showed frustration in his facial expressions, but did not say anything to the student, per the eyewitness.
The student was seen on surveillance footage five minutes later running away from May.
May grabbed the student again and dragged the student another four feet.
When he was detained following reports of the behavior, May told police that he placed a minor restraint on the student after escaping him.
When police conducted a wellness check at the student’s home, no injuries were found on the student’s arms.
May faces one felony count of battery on a vulnerable person and one felony count of child abuse or neglect.
There are other reports across the country of government school employees abusing children with special needs.
Jamison Elementary School in Pennsylvania allegedly has an extensive history of abuse incidents, per a report from WPVI.
Between September and December 2024, a teacher and an aide allegedly abused four students — varying in age from kindergarten to second grade — in an autism support room.
There were reports of students being physically restrained and having their water intake limited.
One student was even found naked inside the classroom.
James Pepper, a member of the school board, said he’s been trying to draw more attention to the allegations.
“I’ve asked repeatedly for the police to go back and take a closer look at this. The district attorney’s office has refused,” Pepper said.
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