Five-Year Old Boy With Autism Branded Sex Offender By School

A five-year boy with autism has been reported for sexual activities by his school after he hugged a classmate and kissed another one on the cheek.

Nathan, who is a student at the East Ridge Elementary School in Chattanooga, Tennessee was reported to child services and branded a “sex predator” for hugging and kissing classmates. He will be reportedly put on record for life now.

Summery Putnam, Nathan’s guardian, received a call from a teacher of his school near the start of September. According to Putnam, the teacher accused Nathan of sexual activities.

“First of all, I didn't understand... He's a five-year-old, he's a child. The teacher called me. She said, 'You need to have a talk with Nathan about boundaries,’” Putnam told ABC News affiliate ABC7.

Putnam said that it was hard to make Nathan, a special needs child, understand such things.

"If you don't understand how autism works, you'd think he's acting out or being defiant, but that's not the situation," she said.

"I talked to him. I said, 'You can't hug children.'

"He said: 'Why?'

"I said, 'Because, Nathan, it's not allowed.'"

According to Putnam, Nathan really didn’t understand what he had done wrong. His Grandmother too pleaded for help on social media saying he comprehends and functions very differently than a typical 5-year-old.

"It was disclosed that it will go in his record for the rest of his life that he is a sex offender. This child is [autistic], he comprehends and functions very different than your typical 5 year,” she wrote on Facebook.