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by ERIN PARROTT
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A Lexington County special education teacher accused of physically assaulting multiple special needs students is once again working in a South Carolina classroom – a development that has at least one parent questioning how an educator facing criminal allegations was allowed back around vulnerable children.
Former Nursery Road Elementary School special education teacher Sharon Sweatt recently accepted a new position while she continues participating in South Carolina’s Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) program – which could ultimately allow the third-degree assault charge against her to be dismissed and expunged if she successfully completes the program.
For Bethany Bryant, whose now six-year-old son was among the children involved in the criminal case, the news was devastating.
“I just don’t get that,” Bryant told FITSNews. “She’s not even done with the case yet… that tells me she’s bypassing the background or they’re just disregarding her pending charge.”
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Bryant’s son – who has since been diagnosed with level three autism – had only recently started kindergarten at Nursery Road Elementary when school administrators called to report that Sweatt had been removed from the classroom after two teacher’s aides reported witnessing what they described as inappropriate physical treatment of the child.
According to Bryant, administrators told her the aides reported Sweatt grabbed her son, “tossed him across the classroom” and handled him aggressively. Bryant said the allegations helped explain behavioral changes she had noticed after he started school – behaviors she says disappeared once he left Sweatt’s classroom.
Court records previously obtained by law enforcement alleged Sweatt “popped” students on the hands and buttocks as discipline, struck one student in the face after he kicked and bit her during recess, and grabbed another child by the belt loop before tossing him onto a classroom carpet. She was arrested in October 2025 and charged with third-degree assault and battery.
Because her son cannot communicate verbally, Bryant said the ordeal fundamentally changed how she views schools and therapy providers.
“The hardest part was… what if those young ladies didn’t feel the need to report it?” Bryant said. “He doesn’t talk at all. He wouldn’t be able to tell me anything that anybody did to him. My trust was broken.”
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RELATED | S.C. EDUCATORS EXPOSED
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Bryant said other families contacted her after Sweatt’s arrest, claiming they had experienced similar concerns but struggled to determine what was happening because their children were also nonverbal.
She also said she never received a formal apology from the school district following the incident.
“I haven’t gotten an apology from anybody,” Bryant said, adding that she ultimately withdrew her son from the school after he was accepted into Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.
Now, with Sweatt reportedly having been hired as a special education teacher at Dutch Fork Middle School – which lists her as a new staff member – Bryant says the questions extend far beyond her family’s experience.
“It’s almost like it doesn’t matter what happened to my child,” she said. “We’re going to allow her to work at another school.”
Count on FITSNews to keep our audience up to date on this case, as well as share any additional information from concerned parents.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2025 with a bachelor degree in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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