MARIETTA, Ga. – An Atlanta area special education teacher accused of holding a student over a garbage can told board members she did it to calm the autistic child during a tantrum.

“The accused talked with the victim about Oscar the Grouch and his ‘trashy behavior,’” according to Cobb County teacher Mary Pursley’s arrest warrant cited by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

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“The accused told the victim, ‘If he had trashy behavior like Oscar, he’d go to the trash can.’”

Witnesses told police Pursley then dunked the second-grader head-first into a trash can while holding him by his legs, prompting the boy to cry, scream and yell “stop,” according to the warrant.

The incident occurred during an after-school program at Cobb County’s Mt. Bethel Elementary April 30.

Police arrested Pursley for cruelty to children in the first degree May 4, and she defended her actions at a school system hearing this week, alleging she was trying to “shake out the grouchy” from the yelling child.

Pursley, a 21-year teaching veteran in the district, is currently on paid administrative leave while a panel of retired educators decide her fate, the AJC reports.

“Her lawyer, Warren Fortson, said her actions were not inappropriate, and that she has used characters such as Oscar the Grouch to help calm special education students,” according to the Associated Press.

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The teacher remains free on a $5,000 bond during her pending criminal case.

“She is charged with cruelty to children in the first degree, which is a serious felony. It carries 20 years in prison,” defense attorney Scott Semrau, who is not involved in the case, told WSBTV.

The charge alleges Pursley maliciously caused physical or mental pain to the student, which Semrau believes may not be the case.

“That’s a big stretch, especially in this relationship between special needs teacher and special needs student, because special needs teachers are given far more latitude to be physical with special needs children,” he said.

WSBTV reports a Georgia mandatory reporting law for anyone supervising children has resulted in a significant increase in reported abuse of students over the last three years.

“The mandatory reporting law makes you a criminal if you don’t report something, so I think people are going to error on the side of caution and report it,” Semrau said.

Ironically, it’s the school district’s police who arrested Pursley and charged her with child cruelty, despite the fact that school leaders have not yet determined whether her conduct warrants official action.