A teacher at Austin Peay Elementary School was arrested and charged with assault May 13, 2026, after a Tipton County Sheriff’s Office investigation found she may have struck a nonverbal pre-kindergarten special education student with a belt and pushed a trash can into the child.

Katherine Turnbow had been a teacher at the Tipton County Preschool since January and had been under investigation since April 7.

To protect the identities of the victim and those whose names appear in court records, Paper Folds has chosen not to publish their names or use pronouns that may aid in their identification.

According to the affidavit of complaint, the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the school’s principal, who reported potential child abuse.

The affidavit states a teacher’s assistant told the principal Turnbow “may have struck a non-verbal pre-k student with a belt.” The assistant reportedly told the principal she entered the room and observed Turnbow standing next to the student, who was crying, and that Turnbow stated she had not hit the child with the belt, she was only trying to scare them.

The belt came from the school’s custodian, who reportedly told investigators he took it off and handed it to Turnbow.

The assistant said after the belt incident, the child was standing between a rolling trash can and the lockers inside the classroom when Turnbow pushed the trash can and knocked the child into the lockers, allegedly stating, “That is what you get.”

The affidavit states an investigation was conducted at the school. Turnbow reportedly admitted to taking the belt from the custodian, but said she did not push the child down with the trash can. She is quoted as stating, “No, I remember [the child] holding on to a garbage can, it was kind of empty and [the child] fell.” When she was questioned further by a member of the district’s administration team, she reportedly said, “I remember last week, [the child] was on the garbage can. It was empty. [The child] fell, I may have pushed it away from [the child].”

Turnbow was suspended in April. She was released on a $5,000 bond and is scheduled to have an initial appearance in Tipton County General Sessions Court at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Sheriff Shannon Beasley said the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office will thoroughly investigate allegations of child abuse.

“This is a very unfortunate situation involving a faculty member however, any actions involving the mistreatment or assault of a child, and in this case a vulnerable child, simply cannot and will not be tolerated.”

In a public social media post, the child’s mother shared Turnbow’s mugshot and said it’s scary to send your child into the world and even scarier when they are mistreated and cannot tell you.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story identified Ms. Turnbow as a teacher assistant. She is a teacher. We apologize for and regret this error.